Dick Pound – FasterSkier

News Round-Up for Mid-July

FasterSkierJuly 21, 2020

The Biathlon Integrity Unit Comes Online: Earlier this month, the website biathlonintegrity.com came online. The site is the digital interface of the Biathlon Integrity Unit, an independent arm of the International Biathlon Union. Part of the Biathlon Integrity Unit’s mandate, according to the website, is to provide a mechanism to “investigate and prosecute violations” as they relate to “integrity related matters in Biathlon, including anti-doping, ethical breaches, betting-related issues and any kind of result...

General News Olympics Racing

As WADA Commission Promises More To Come, Skiing’s Past Doping Scandals Emerge

Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2015

Norway's TV2 says it has found out that Estonian cross-country skier Kristina Smigun is likely to be stripped of her 2006 Olympic gold medals; national and international federations seem happy to discuss, but the IOC will not. Meanwhile, a Norwegian Paralympian alleges Russians had separate (and comically short) doping control tests at the 2014 Olympics.

Biathlon General News Olympics Racing World Cup

WADA Independent Commission Strongly Implies Winter Sports at Risk From Doping

Chelsea LittleNovember 9, 2015

In confirming the lurid details of a state-sponsored doping scandal in Russian track and field, WADA's Dick Pound made clear, "We don’t think that Russia is the only country with a doping problem, or that athletics is the only sport with a doping problem." He also discussed how results from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi may be tainted, and said there is likely doping in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

General News

Given the Crime, Are Proposed Sanctions Enough? Tygart Weighs In

Chelsea LittleNovember 9, 2015

GENEVA, Switzerland— After revelations that there was widespread, systematic doping in Russian track and field, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Independent Commission recommended that the Russian athletics federation be suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The findings were a confirmation of the worst fears for many in the sports community, and a sickening realization that suspicions had been well-founded. “It confirmed a lot of what we had heard over the last couple...

General Health

Rhetoric Aside, a Less Publicized Goal in WADA Ban of Asthma Medications: Healthy Athletes

Chelsea LittleOctober 19, 2012

This is the second of two pieces looking at the use of bronchodilating drugs to treat asthma in athletes – and their changing place on WADA’s prohibited list. available as PDF), the authors write that “Vigorous physical exercise can be followed by transient clinical signs and symptoms similar to an asthma attack and are due to post-exercise bronchoconstriction (i.e., a narrowing of the airways). Clinical symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, excessive mucus...

General News Racing World Cup

In Cases Like Pankratov’s, Information Can Be Tough to Come By

Nathaniel HerzSeptember 22, 20107

Nikolai Pankratov’s reported detainment at the Swiss border made waves in the cross-country skiing community when the news broke last week. But since then, there’s been barely a ripple of information to emerge from the International Ski Federation (FIS)—which, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, is in charge of handling the case. What is known about Pankratov is this: according to multiple reports, the Russian cross-country skier was stopped at the Swiss border with intravenous...