One under-the-radar note from a FINA press release earlier today: all anti-doping samples from Russian Olympians from the 2015 World Championships were retested with zero positive results.
The news comes at the end of FINA’s press release denying that it had the final say on the Olympic eligibility of Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev (Both athletes will await decisions from the Court of Arbitration for Sport and an IOC panel):
FINA also took the decision to retest all Russian samples from athletes going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games that were collected at the latest 15th FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, 2015. These samples, retested at the Barcelona laboratory, where they have been stored, returned no adverse findings.
The samples were stored in Barcelona after the World Championships in Kazan – they were originally tested by the WADA anti-doping lab in Moscow, Russia, which has come under fire in the year since. A WADA report in 2015 alleged that the lab’s integrity had been compromised. The lab’s WADA accreditation was revoked earlier this year, and the lab was heavily criticized in the McLaren Report last month.
The samples were retested in the Barcelona lab, FINA says, with no new positive tests coming as a result.
Will morozov swim or not?
FINA has absolutely ZERO credibility when it comes to Russian doping. They are so clearly in Russia’s corner with their press releases it is embarrassing. They seem to have forgotten that their job is sport governance, not public relations for Russia.
What a surprise. No positives, no scratches, nothing. Thanks WADA for discrediting names of clean athletes
Of course they all are negative, they’re from last summer! Retest them in 5 years and I’ll buy it.
Unfortunately I have zero confidence in Wada, FINA and the IOC at this point. Can’t help but ask if the samples were really clean or if this is just another PR saving exercise.
is it possible to do DNA testing on the samples to verify that the urine did come from that athlete or is there too little dna in urine for that kind of test?
That is what McClaren investigation did and they found urine DNA that was not the athletes DNA. Sometimes multiple different DNA in samples.
Where is this information from?
As per the McLaren report, can we assume that these samples included clean and “disappearing positive” samples? If so, isn’t this the expected outcome?
Dna & profiling against former samples should uncover substitution & reconstruction of urine in any other environment . It isn’t just sport that tests urine samples . Many law firms test their young lawyers . I know of of court ordered bi polar/ schizophrenics who get tested regularly as part of their mandated treatments.
Its not rocket science – probably forensics 101.
Maclaren report didn’t mention 2015 Kazan swimming world championships as part of “disappearing positives” operation.
It mentioned 2013 IAAF world championships, 2013 universiade, 2014 sochi Olympics, and national championships.
The doping control lab for 2015 Kazan world championships was supervised by UK ADA.
FINA retesting the samples from 2015 Kazan is just grandstanding, nothing more.