FINA is reporting that Turkmenistani swimmer Hemra Nurmyradov, holder of five Turkmen national men’s swimming records, failed an in-competition drug test at last year’s FINA Short Course World Championships. He has received a two-year competition ban.
On December 3, 2014, after the 100m breaststroke, he tested positive to a host of prohibited substances, including nandrolone and testosterone
Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that used to be used to treat osteoporosis in women because it helps to promote muscle growth and increased bone density. Other high-profile nandrolone-doping athletes include American track and field star Marion Jones, who ended up being stripped of her five Olympic medals.
Testosterone, while a naturally-occurring hormone in humans, is banned in cases of external administration to benefit athletic performance across a range of sports. Adverse effects can include increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.
At Short Course Worlds, Nurmyradov dropped over three seconds from his previous personal best in the 100m breast, posting a 1:07.25, and setting a new Turkmen National Record. That time, and his 31.37 in the 50m breast, another national record, have both been revoked.
The timing of the test may have saved Nurmyradov some time on his sentence. Due to tightened FINA regulations, he would have had to serve a four-year suspension had the negative test come in 2015, just 29 days later.
Currently, 24 FINA athletes are serving a period of ineligibility due to an anti-doping rule violation.
Philip, I don’t think you’ll find any FINA apologists here. I think the broader problem is consistency. FINA has a long history of relative benevolence in some cases, which also happen to be instances where we are talking about an iconic figure like Park or Sun. There shouldn’t be a relative scale here where one offense is 3-6 months and another is 4 years. If Park were some quasi world class swimmer from New Zealand, he’d be out of the sport to and through Rio and would have likely just retired. Instead his punishment seemed conveniently framed around not having the consequence of missing the most major meet in a four year cycle. A Serbian water polo player missed a… Read more »
Timely announcement of the ban, eh?
Dude really wanted that 1:07 SC 100 breast. Tested positive for “a host of” drugs.
LOL dope to go a 107 and 31.3
He should immediately appeal and use the FINA CEO as his defence.
On doping, this is what Marculescu told ZDF, the German TV station, after Sun Yang’s no-show for the 1500m freestyle on the last day of world titles, against a controversial backdrop of a suspension served in secret in 2014:
“You cannot condemn the stars just because they had a minor incident with doping.”
That in conjunction with the don’t worry about entry times for Mexico.
WHO IN FINA ACTUALLY WANTS RULES??
With me at least, there’s no such thing as a “minor” incident of doping. Doping is doping. Can’t believe he said that, but shouldn’t be surprised either. What’s more disturbing is the very people on these boards that chose to defend these cheats. Are we becoming more accepting of the drug culture in sports? It seems to be going that way. FINA officials and now the fans. Maybe I should join the crowd.