Artem Tyshchenko, a Ukrainian biathlete, has been found guilty of doping. The test, according to the International Biathlon Union, was conducted at a race in Aber, Germany last month. Traces of meldonium were found in his urine, according to CBC.ca. A hormone and metabolic modulator, the substance was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in January. The IBU has provisionally suspended him.
The sport of biathlon has not had a good year. Tyshchenko is the latest in a string of doping revelations and surrounding drama. Olga Abramova, another Ukrainian biathlete, was also suspended earlier this month for using the same substance, reported the Associated Press.
In November, the WADA released a report on doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. They found that Russia had breached their codes on multiple instances, such as covering up doping cases, allowing banned athletes to compete and warning athletes in advance about "secret" tests.
Speaking in mid-February to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Vice President of Medical Issues at IBU Jim Carrabre cast doubt on the integrity of Russian testing at the Sochi Olympics. He said he will be launching an investigative probe into the sport.
Anders Besseberg, IBU's president, and Carrabre had not communicated on this issue. Citing testing conducted last summer, Besseberg criticized the grounds of Carrabre's accusations.
"I am skeptical about new revelations," Besseberg said to the AP. "I must say that I'll be very surprised if one laboratory has managed to cheat, even if they had observers on a high-level presence of WADA. It is anonymous samples and then I'm surprised if they've had such a clever system."
Fears of doping have manifested in biathlon, and not other sports, perhaps because three of Russia's biathlon skiers are currently banned from the sport, according to FasterSkier.com. Ekaterina Iourieva, the most heinous offender, will not ski professionally for another 12 years, and the Russian Biathlon Union was fined €100,000 ($109319.00) in penalty.
Tyshchenko's case does not appear to have any relation to the Russian lab that was the primary culprit during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. It instead demonstrates a more systemic problem in the sport.
But is this issue unique to the sport of biathlon?
"The conclusion from the WADA report is that all winter federations who were at the Sochi Olympics should be concerned," Carrabre said to NRK, according to Reuters. "I am concerned, that is why I will launch an investigation."
Carrabre's statement indicates that the issue of doping is rampant throughout winter sports, but the IBU may simply have stricter oversight than other governing bodies.
