Topic: News: The Greek Doping Scandal

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Link

Greek weightlifters appear before doping commission

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The 11 Greek weightlifters who tested positive for banned substances testified Sunday before a commission set up by the country's weightlifting federation.

The athletes, whose names have not been released, were being called one by one to appear before the committee at the federation's offices. Deputy head coach Valerios Leonidis, a silver medalist at the Atlanta Olympics, also testified Sunday.

"I am here to help with the investigation and so are the athletes. This is no time for speculation," Leonidis told reporters. "Whatever supplements the athletes take, they take with the approval of the (federation's) health committee."

Head coach Christos Iakovou, whose father died on Friday, the day the doping scandal came into light, will testify Monday.

Greek sports authorities say they will not comment on the case until the result of the athletes' B samples are made public next week. However, several local media have reported that the first samples showed traces of an anabolic steroid, an opiate and an estrogen suppressor. The tests were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency on March 7, on orders of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Authorities, including ministers, Greece's anti-doping agency and sports federations will meet Monday to discuss the case.

"We want to deal a major blow to the networks of those trading in illegal substances," sports minister Yiannis Ioannidis said.

If the B samples confirm the initial findings, Greece will not be allowed to field a weightlifting team at the Beijing Olympics as the athletes and federation will receive 2-year bans. The weightlifting federation has already decided to pull the national team from the upcoming European Championships, to be held in Italy April 11-20.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I am a little astonished that people are talking about team suspensions. I thought team suspensions were now dead after the hypocrisy of excusing iran without one. Its time for a lifetime suspension on the first offense. This would put an immediate dent in the problem as many more lifters and coaches will find the reward no longer worth the risk.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

http://hellenicathletes.com/news.php?news_id=413

[AlekoKouva]

It is a sad reality that drugs are part of every sport these day...Weightlifting always seems to be the first to get picked on..because the world always connects roids=stregth and weightlifting=strength. The last thing i want is weightlifting to be kicked out of the olympics...I dont think it would change anything about the doping situation in all sport. I think the best solution is lifetime suspension for athletes...not federations because if some dumb athlete takes these stuff alone it can ruin it for all athletes in the nation of the sport in question. It kinda sucks for me too because I am a greek canadian and in 2005 I trainned with the greek national team. I know most of the ppl out of the 11...well i cant exactly say i know them...i jsut trainned with them and spoke to a few of them. Im also waiting to see what dimas is gonna say...I have him on my facebook and i am to scared to ask his opinion about this situation.

I would like to quote something dimas said that was in a greek news article.

You can give all the drugs in the wolrd to a donkey, he will never become a Stalion.

I hope wada changes its policies and starts lifetime punishments.

FOR A CLEANER TMR...

by the way the athletes might go to jail...because that it the law in greece.

[Dave Almeida]

Aleko I completely agree with your post. Why is everyone so scared about weightlifting being yanked from the olympics? I realized they threatened once but they would need to do away with track and field then too. Every 100m record holder eventually gets busted. We all know that the throwers are on juice and the long distance runners cheat in every way possible too. No sport is clean, no sport will ever be completely clean because of the cost of testing every single top athlete every single week which is what you would need to do for many of the olympic sports since its not just steroids that they are on.

[ryankyle]

I have both a question and an observation.  It seems that everytime a team tests positive people celebrate because the cheaters are getting caught.  Now I agree with drug testing but I also agree with the Dimas quote, because if all it took was roids to be world champ then there would be no reason for countries to go through the hassle and process of testing thousands of kids to become weightlifters.  Here's where my question comes in - Shane and Mark Henry both had a great deal of leg strength and Mark could deadlift a ton too, so how come Rezazadeh snatches and clean and jerks more than both?   I've seen where Murphy's best back squat is 300kg at 94 and the former Chinese national coach in milo stated that he would expect a 91kg lifter (rounding here) to do a 290kg back squat.  So Murphy, Mark, and Shane all have/had at least the same leg strength as those winning the medals, so how come they are not world champions in snatch and clean and jerk?  Are the foreigners all on special snatch and clean and jerk roids?  It may sound naive but I believe that there are still those freaks of nature out there who can snatch 210 and jerk 260 without roids.   

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

If they could win without the drugs, then they wouldn't take the drugs.

Its that simple.

[ryankyle]

What I'm getting at is how come our guys can achieve the same absolute? strength as the foriegners without drugs but not the same snatch and clean and jerk strength. It seems if roids would  give you 10% then it should give you 10% everywhere not just snatch and clean and jerk.  I'm not trying to condone drug use I'm just trying to reason how we can get strong in everything like the foreinger but where it counts - in the competition lifts.