Doping in figure skating
Doping in figure skating involves the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, specifically those listed and monitored by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Bans can be enforced on figure skaters by the International Skating Union and each country's individual skating federation. These bans can often be career ending due to the competitive nature of figure skating. A ban may be revoked if it can be proved that the skater tested positive for a prescribed medication. Some figure skaters will use PEDs to help with recovery time, allowing them to train harder and longer. Figure skating is an aesthetic sport that combines both athleticism and artistic licence, where weight-loss substances will have little effect on athletic performance but skaters may be perceived as more graceful and sleek, which is required for an athlete to be competitive.
History
PEDs such as meldonium, pseudoephedrine and torasemide have been used in the sport of figure skating. These drugs have little to do with building bulk muscle but can potentially be used to encourage a faster recovery, or diuretics may be used for weight loss. In terms of the technical complexity of figure skating, former American figure skater Scott Hamilton has stated that "It takes years to teach your body what it needs to do. Instant strength will hinder those efforts, not aid them." According to Dr. Franklin Nelson, chairman of the medical advisers to the International Skating Union : "Most drugs that are apparently used in other sports just are not effective in figure skating...where you change direction, change speeds, do lifts, jumps and spins", a viewpoint shared by many coaches in the figure skating community. Figure skating requires lean figures from both men and women for both aesthetic and mechanical reasons, with an emphasis on achieving "a sleek, graceful bodily appearance while preserving the power, balance and flexibility a competitive athlete requires". This could lead one to focus on weight loss, maintaining a low BMI, and a host of other medical issues such as developing an eating disorder.Though there is a long history of illegal PEDs use documented for swimming and cycling but not in figure skating, but there continue to be individuals who will use illegal PEDs For example, the prolific use of illegal PEDs during the Tour de France by the most notable cyclist Lance Armstrong. The use of performance-enhancing drugs or PEDs such as steroids which boost muscle growth, narcotics to suppress pain, beta blockers to slow the heart rate. This can drastically improve an individuals athletic performance in these particular sports due to the specific physical demands in these sports. But compared to figure skating, the inherent complexity found in figure skating often discourages the use of illegal PEDs and the cost of being caught could be detrimental to their career. If caught in competition Nelson, an experienced Olympic judge, states that ″Our rules are 15 months for a first offence and life for any subsequent offence,″ ″The sanctions are so extreme that they would effectively end a career″. The nature of figure skater has one focused on their weight through controlling their diets to improve performance, opposed to using PEDs which could negatively impact their career due to the cost of being caught.
Countries
Russia
In 2016, a former European ice dancing champion Ekaterina Bobrova failed a doping test as she tested positive for meldonium at the European Figure Skating Championship which is banned under WADA, in turn ruling her and her partner Dmitry Soloviev out of the 2016 World Figure Skating Championship. Meldonium has been used to treat chest pains though some state that it has the potential to increase fitness level according to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list. Though this ban was overturned since there are was less than one microgram of meldonium and due to the uncertainties around how long it stays in the body. "Bobrova's suspension was subsequently lifted by the ISU, which stated it had decided "to stay the results management process and consequently not to disqualify any results at the present stage."In 2000, Elena Berezhnaya, a pairs skater, tested positive for pseudoephedrine, which was stated that she had been taking cold medication to treat bronchitis approved by a doctor and hadn't informed the ISU, resulting in her 2000 European Figure Skating Championship gold medal being stripped. This resulted in three-month disqualification from the date of the test, thus the pair missed the World Championships that year as a result of the disqualification'
Yuri Larionov a male pairs skater Junior World Championships and winner of the 2007 Junior Grand Prix finals paired with Vera Bazarova, was suspended for an anti-doping violation for 18 months for using Furosemide a powerful diuretic which the World Anti-Doping Agency classifies as “masking” anabolic and steroids. Yuri Larionov stated the use of the Furosemide was for weight loss but diuretics but it can be used as a masking agent for the use other substances, Though he claims that "during the month of December he had bought and then took a over-the-counter drug which behind his back contained a banned matter"
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, has publicly stated she has used meldonium before the ban but stopped when the ban was introduced in 2016. During the figure skating season 2014-15, she won the 2015 World Figure Skating Championship and many question whether this is related to her use of meldonium as she competed thirteen times that season. A well known figure skating coach Rafael Arutyunyan questions the use of PEDs and "whenever athlete does that and says I’m dying, which is why I’m taking the pills, and then, she doesn’t die anymore, but the drug helps her to recover better, to train more, to add more power to his jumps". Though "some experts said that the evidence for such claims are scant and that it was not even clear if the drug improves athletic performance"
In 2019, Alexandra Koshevaya was sanctioned for a two-year suspension for testing positive for torasemide for violating anti-doping rules during the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk by the ISU. She mistakenly had taken the medicine to reduce swelling in her foot and not consulted the detailed a sport doctor about the ingestion of torasemide. According to the ISU Disciplinary Commission the "Alleged Offender concluded by regretting what had happened and taking the obligation never to take any medicine without prior consultation with specialists again."
In 2019, Anastasia Shakun, an ice dancer with Daniil Ragimov, at the national level and a member of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. She received a one year ban from the ISU, as she claims she mistakenly took furosemide during competition for an eye problem. She was "suspended from practices and participations in all competition", and explained she had taken furosemide at the advice of pharmacy before the competition to deal with eye swelling and "forgetting that it was on the Prohibited List"
France
is a single figure skater who tested positive in 2020 for cocaine at France's Master's de Patinage announced by the French Federation of Ice Sports. Thus, there is a risk of a four year suspension depending on whether it taken in or out of competition as if it was used for recreational purposes the penalty is less severe compared with the intention of performance enhancing.According to the ISU record Christine Chiniard is a French ice dancer who was stripped of her third place medal at the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, after failing a dope test for a weight-loss drug for prescribed medication. Thus dropping to fourth place at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
United States
In 2002, Kyoko Ina, a three-time Olympic pairs skater, was suspended for four years because she refused to take a randomly unscheduled drug test at 10:30pm in July,. She was suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency but not be the ISU as the test was a national out of competition test never face suspension. Since there was confusion about her retirement from amateur competition prior to testing as she announced he intended not to compete at the Olympics but no formal written notice to the USADA, she agreed to be suspended for two years without further appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.Kazakhstan
Darya Sirotina was banned for one year from 17 January 2017 to 16 January 2018 by skaters who was subject to a period of Ineligibility following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation by the ISU. The specific substance used is unknown.Hungary
was a Russian-Hungarian pairs skater who skated with Márk Magyar. She was banned for two years from 1 December 2017 to 30 November 2019 by skaters who was who was subject to a period of Ineligibility following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation by the ISU. The specific substance used is unknown.List of banned substances
There are four types of performance enhancing drugs in sport, this will include anabolic steroids, stimulants, human growth hormone and diuretics. This section will have a greater focus on specific illegal PEDs that have been used by previous figure skaters.Meldonium
is a cardio-protective drug. Under the WADA banned list of substances, meldonium is an S4 substance. It is typically a drug that helps improve circulation to the brain and been used for heart conditions such as angina. This drug s produced in Latvia and most commonly used in northern Europe such as Eastern European Counties such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Armenia and not currently approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in many countries of the European Union. As stated in this BBC article, "It is produced out of Latvia, has been around for some time and is commonly used in northern Europe.In figure skating, meldonium may have the potential to improve endurance performance and encourage the use of hormones and stimulants, which could lead to misuse of meldonium as the sport requires strength, endurance and artistry. Meldonium could be exploited because of the utilisation of fatty acid when exercising, along with decreased production of lactate acid after exercise and improved storage of glycogen. This can benefit figure skaters as they have a faster recovery time and are able to train at least 33 hours a week meaning figure skaters are able to train even longer and harder and recover faster. Illustrated by the potential effects for meldonium to improve performance in figure skating without building bulk from steroids.