Posts by zaphod

https://twitter.com/ringsau/st…oto/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

As you can see, not every sport is affected equally. Therefore this blanket ban is unfair. They have already banned the track and field athletes who are appealing through CAS. Should volleyball players pay for what their athletic counterparts did? Should their lovely rhythmic gymnasts who are just 19 y.o kids whose careers would end by age 22 also pay for it? The numbers in total looks damning but when you break it down to individual sports it is a whole different story.
If I may add, how does this compare to US, China and Kenya?

Quote from Oooswald

It has nothing to do with Cold War paranoia.

Since allegations were made about doping on the Russian track and field program, new accusations surfaced in other sports. The investigation is international but the allegations were made by Russian whistleblowers.
Tomorrow, they'll disclose the results of the investigations about doping in Sochi 2014. Some insiders are saying that the investigation will show that doping in Russia is a systemic problem and a scheme was put together by members of the Russian Olympic Committee as well the Sports Ministry Office.

If that's true, Russia's situation is really bad because the IOC already talked about zero-tolerance policy about doping.
Maybe the IOC will ban Russia from the next Winter Games and won't from Rio 2016. But something should be done.

There is no doubt systematic doping occurs in Russia. But not all sports are affected equally. And athletes like every other human in the world should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Even so, in the past year Russian athletes are all tested by UKAD since RUSADA's suspension. Before the McLaren report came out, USADA and CCES has already drafted and sought signatures to ban Russia behind the backs of other Federations.

http://www.reuters.com/article…ssia-report-idUSKCN0ZX0JQ

The leaking of a draft letter urging a complete ban on Russian athletes at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics has undermined a key report into doping allegations at the 2014 Sochi Games, WADA board member Nenad Lalovic said on Sunday.The leaked letter, addressed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), backed by several anti-doping agencies and circulated to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) athlete committee, called for all Russian athletes to be banned from the Rio Games.Russia's track and field athletes are already banned from competing in Rio by the world governing International Association of Athletics' Federations (IAAF) over widespread doping in the sport.The letter was due to be sent once a report into allegations of state-backed doping at the Sochi winter Olympics led by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren is presented on Monday.Lalovic, who heads United World Wrestling and is also a member of WADA's foundation board, said the letter would weaken the McLaren report, if it offered clear evidence of doping offences."Unfortunately this report is harmed by all the events before the report is public," Lalovic told Reuters. "Obviously the report focuses on the situation in Russia but we cannot generalize so easily. Of course it has been harmed now."Nobody will now take it as seriously as it should be because it seems that a lot was known in advance."The letter, obtained by Reuters on Saturday, was drafted by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart and his Canadian counterpart Paul Melia.It has the support of several other anti-doping bodies including Germany, New Zealand and Japan, as well as some athletes groups, according to Tygart and Melia.It was also circulated to WADA's Athlete Committee members by Canada's Beckie Scott, who chairs the committee, asking whether they would support it.Lalovic said he had not received a copy of the letter despite being on WADA's decision-making body.
"If we have drafts of letters being circulated asking to ban all Russian athletes then that is strange," Lalovic, who is also an IOC member said."USADA should be focused on the health of American athletes and those competing in the United States. Now it seems that USADA and the Canadians took over responsibility of WADA. Nobody entitled them to do that."


So tell me how WADA is an independent and fair body?

http://www.fivb.com/en/about/n…ut-in-support-of?id=63499

Lausanne, Switzerland, July 18, 2016 - A range of leading volleyball athletes from different countries have supported FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F°’s stance regarding the Russian national volleyball teams competing in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

On Saturday, President Graça said: “The FIVB has zero-tolerance towards doping but the FIVB is also confident there are no major issues with the anti-doping process concerning Russian volleyball players since much of the testing analysis is done outside Russia, primarily in Germany. The FIVB cannot punish the Russian national teams simply because of problems in some other sports.”

Emanuel Rego, the Brazilian Olympic champion in beach volleyball, said on the possibility of a Russian ban at the Rio Olympics: “It is a decision that has to be very well thought out and studied because there is much more innocent athletes than those doped. You cannot take an attitude without thinking of the innocent. It is a drastic decision that can punish good athletes that do not indulge in doping”.

Gilberto Amauri de Godoy Filho (Giba), the Brazilian Olympic champion in volleyball and the President of the FIVB Athletes’ Commission, said: “We have seen many Russian athletes in various sports being punished for doping. Prohibit Russia to compete in the Olympics will take much of the brightness of the competition, but it is necessary to consider curbing doping”.

Laura Ludwig, the German four-time European Champion in beach volleyball, said: “If the FIVB and the IOC are convinced that they [Russians] are not involved with the state sponsored doping program then there is no need for them to be sanctioned for other disciplines' wrong-doing.”

Julius Brink, the German Olympic Champion in beach volleyball, said: “The obviously state supported doping scheme at the Sochi Olympics shocked me but it does not make me think that all Russian athletes were/are doped and must be banned. To ban a whole nation from the Olympic Games will always hit those who are clean and punish them.

Quote from powsoff

In this world, many things are possible and everything about the Olympics is colossally political. So the fact that the chaps are working hard for their bosses to put some pressure on Vova Pu is hardly a surprise. I wonder however what US volleyball team thinks about these efforts. In particular, people like Ball, Priddy, Anderson, Lee, Holt.

Yes that will be interesting. My respect for Jenn Suhr the pole vaulter has increased immensely after she spoke up for Isinbayeva and Suhr was criticized in turn by a US representative. I would like to see more athletes speak up without fear.
I don't mind the guilty athletes punished. By all means ban Efimova, Savinova and all of Chegin's athletes. Ban the biathletes for years too. But the hypocrisy annoys me.And UKAD has been testing all Russian athletes this past year since RUSADA was suspended.


Not only was the McLaren report leaked, USADA and Canadian officials went behind the European federations' back to get signatures for a ban. This is like abusing the kids to cause harm to the parents. On the bright side FINA, FIG and FIVB have all opposed a blanket ban.
Sorry if this isn't volleyball related but i think FIG president Bruno Grundi's words need to be shared:

From Ary Graca

"All of the tests we have done on the Russian players were not done in Russia.
“All the samples were done in Germany so we are out of this problem.”
When asked whether he would support Russia being excluded from all sports at Rio 2016, he added: “For sure I would not."

http://www.insidethegames.biz/…ide-of-scandal-hit-nation

"Firstly, the McLaren Report is meant to be a totally independent report that must remain totally confidential until its publication on Monday, July 18 in Canada," Hickey said in a statement sent to insidethegames.
"It is clear from the e-mail and letter that both the independence and the confidentiality of the report have been compromised.
"Such interference and calls ahead of the McLaren Report publication are totally against internationally recognised fair legal process and may have completely undermined the integrity and therefore the credibility of this important report.
"I have to question on what authority the US and Canadian Anti-Doping agencies prepared their letter and what mandate they have to lead an international call for a ban of another nation in the Olympic family."

http://www.insidethegames.biz/…r-ahead-of-mclaren-report

We will know tomorrow if Russia will be banned from RIO. It was supposed to be a totally independent and confidential report but it seems it has leaked to US and Canadian authorities. Russia does have a problem with their system but WADA also has systematic corruption it seems. In the meantime, British athletes who are reported to be cheating by ARD, as well as the Kenyans will compete in Rio. So basically Russia will be made an example of. Feels really sad for the volleyball girls and other clean athletes.

Quote from Matthias

Fetisova started the match, scored the 1st point with a block, then went to serve and then out for the libero....now Shlyakhovaya is in at the net instead of her

Can't understand Marichev sometimes. Kosheleva not starting either...unless she is still not fit I don't see why he can't put her in

Quote from Loyd

Quoted from "Matthias"

I don't see anything special in Malygina (yet?). She seems just another of those tall, badly-moving players that Russia has always had so many of. Other than her height I see no similarity to Gamova.
I agree. In her age Gamova was much better. Malygina is so inflexible. She won't be as good as Gamova for sure.

Russia's great players (artamonova, sokolova, godina, gamova) were all playing well by that age.

I don't think we can read too much into the level of performance this WGP. Different players and combinations will be tried out by the Rio-bound teams so this is all experimenting here and there. But I don't agree with sending B teams. Like how is that supposed to help the preparations?
China seems to be most ready at the moment. They are scarily good. I worry for Russia and USA. Russia needs to sort their setters out. The setter fiasco against turkey was terrible, from Pankova to Startseva to Sheshenina and back to Pankova in the end

By the way, can anyone tell me how I can get tickets for the finals in Bangkok? Is it possible to get them from the stadium as the online system seems sold out? They sold out within a day!

Quote from ossubtus

i'm no expert nor a doctor, but to think that meldonium doesn't help the athlete seems quite incredible. if that was the case, then why would so many athletes take it? i read a heart doctor in the news who said, there's no reason for any healthy, young person to be taking this drug. so i don't really think it's so innocent that so many russian athletes were taking it.

I understand what you mean. It looks mighty suspicious right? Initially I thought so too. some of the Russians I know say they believe it is cardio-protective as I mentioned. It gained even more widespread use after the death of a young hockey player.(i'll try to dig up that article). And it has been in existence for 30 yrs and is used by everyone from young to old and is available over the counter, like our L-carnitine which is a similar class of drug to meldonium and is legal. Perhaps it is cultural like how the Chinese part of my family believes chicken essence is the answer to everything Yes it does also claim to improve recovery time and fatigue by dilating blood vessels and improving blood flow. It doesn't build up muscles or add strength. There are many methods which are still legal like ice baths to the oxygen chambers. And if Dick Pound has his way he wants them to be banned in the future too. Everything that athletes take or do have perceived benefits, whether it is a placebo effect or true benefits is for science to prove. In medicine, when we put things in guidelines, there must be a level of evidence from I to IV. I only wish WADA will do the same.

Quote from JoanaBG

Of course. At the very least Sharapova believed it helped her, otherwise she would not have gone out of her way to take it for years while keeping it a secret. Clearly she didn't think of it as vitamin C or whatever.

Of course she believed that. Every athlete does something which they perceive will help them and even vitamin C helps so maybe it will be banned someday too. However she was found not guilty of intentional doping by ITF tribunal. Plus she also didn't declare 2 other supplements either. She did ask the Moscow lab in 2010 and was told meldonium was legal and didn't bother to recheck again. If it is supposed to improve her performance then she should sue as the only 2 times she beat Serena Williams was without Meldonium

Quote from Matthias

Kosheleva didn't have an achilles injury, it was an ankle sprain. Though that took unusually long to heal...

Really? thanks. That's a relief. My Russian is bad so I thought I read that she initially just had a partially torn ligament or tendon but it was completely torn/rupture. But this is unusually long for a simple sprain. Must be a ligament tear then.

Quote from Meatballs

I honestly find Meldonium case as a political issue. But if it really has a doping effect on players as scientists claimed, then there will be surely a reduction in Kosheleva's performance. That's not only because Meldonium was a super medicine which improved her performance but also mentally, it is a supply she took since she was 15 years old and it will be hopefully easy to convince herself that she is as good without meldonium too.

P.s. she stopped using meldonium in december I think and the match against Stuttgart was in February, meldonium is supposed to stay in your body up to 3 months or even longer. But again, all these will effect her in the short run, in a year or maybe in Olympics already, we will probably see a monster Kosheleva again.

Hi...I'm usually a lurker here (too shy to talk) but I see many people think of Meldonium as a super drug. As sports medicine is something that I'm trying to specialize in, I just can't help myself with this There is no valid evidence to show that it is a performance enhancing drug. The known pharmacology of this drug shows that it helps to dilate blood vessels, mainly the coronary vessels and thus helps to protect the heart. No reputable scientific study have claimed it to have any performancing enhancing effects in HUMANS. Yes, it helps the sex drive of boars and rabbit, etc. WADA has it as a "suspected" PED and it is their claim...not proof. For them to lump it together with THG, EPO and steroids is just crazy.

A comprehensive literature search of several databases failed to unearth any cogent evidence of the potential meldonium effect in enhancing physical performance in healthy subjects, with only one clinical trial conducted on a small cohort of old (average >60 year) patients with angina pectoris, to evaluate exercise tolerance. On such minimal findings is the dangerous extrapolation to an assumed performance-enhancing effect of meldonium in healthy elite athletes……If anything, Ms Sharapova and other ill-advised athletes may not have attained their true athletic potential as a result of having taken meldonium.
- From A tennis lesson: sharp practice in the science behind the Sharapova case, published in Postgraduate Medical Journal (BMJ) on 1th June, 2016
http://pmj.bmj.com/content/ear…gradmedj-2016-134124.long

If that bolded part is true then Kosheleva should come back stronger?? Seriously though, the only thing doubtful about her return is how well her achilles tendon will hold up (tendon ruptures are the worst at healing )