Skip to main content

Pregnancy doping - the context

Image
By
For those of you coming to the story about pregnancy doping late, and wondering what on earth those translations I published this morning are all about, some context - 

The Observer published a history of cheating in sport on the 15th November that featured allegations of pregnancy doping in the USSR gymnastics team at the 1968 Olympics. The allegations were pivotal to their story, although they could have chosen a different example to make their point. I have now published three articles on RRG about this - the first an opinion piece with reference to sources refuting the allegation, and this morning translations of two Russian language reports from 1998 and 2001, including a Vladimir Golubev interview with Karasyova in which she describes the whole story as a 'monstrous' lie.  The chronology has become clearer, and a few confusions been cleared up.

I wanted these pieces to go on the record in the English language. 

I have written to the Observer readers' editor twice about this, on the grounds of accuracy, requesting a prominent clarification in view of this archival evidence that the story was bogus.  I do think that they should correct their story, don't you?

Here are the links to the stories published on this blog, in case anyone wants to follow how things have developed.  The articles include all the links and sources you will need.

http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/fact-or-fiction-press-gymnastics-and.html

http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-zh-cn.html

http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/is-monstrous-lie-pregnancy-doping-olga.html

Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous30 December 2015 at 04:17

    Did you hear about Russia not being apart of 2916 Olympics?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth30 December 2015 at 10:09

      So far, the ban is only of their athletes (ie field and track).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous30 December 2015 at 16:09

      Really? So its not of like gymnastics or any other sports?

      Delete
    3. Queen Elizabeth30 December 2015 at 16:58

      No.
      However, there is a second part of the report due to be published on 4th January. More sports, and more countries will be implicated.

      Delete
    4. Queen Elizabeth30 December 2015 at 16:59

      14th January.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Paseka for Russia in Berne

By
Barely two weeks will elapse before the WAG European Championships begin in Berne, Switzerland, and the news we had been fearing has been confirmed : world vault gold medallist Maria Paseka is  off the Russian team while she nurses a back injury.  This leaves Russia significantly weakened for the coming competition, with co-star Viktoria Komova also missing from the line-up.  It is a little disappointing, but it seems the right decision to rest the gymnasts so that they can be at their best when and where it really matters. Who will replace Paseka?  Valentina Rodionenko says that the youngster Natalia Kapitonova, who trains in Penza, has been chosen on the basis of her solid performances at national championships.  Well, we will have to wait and see - these announcements often turn out to be unreliable.   I personally would prefer to see the dynamic Seda Tutkhalyan be given a chance at this level, but Kapitonova has certainly shown herself to be more reliab...
41 comments
Read more

WAG Senior start lists are out - Afan does one, Mustafina three

By
Start lists are now available for tomorrow's senior team and event quals.  At present, the Russian roster  looks like this - Beam - Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Mustafina Floor - Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Mustafina  Vault - Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Afanasyeva  Bars - Melnikova, Spiridonova, Mustafina  Things can still change, dear reader, but this is the most reliable official news we have.    It will be good to see all five members of the team compete - I am relieved that Mustafina isn't doing all four but worried for her legs on floor; delighted to see Melnikova and Tutkhalyan making such a strong contribution; and pleased that Afanasyeva is having a chance to try out her training, despite what might be a small injury.  Spiridonova is also looking good for bars, in fact to me she is underused here.   Good luck!  Udachi!  To all the team.  We are very excited to see you compete and do well! The start lists can be found here - http:/...
34 comments
Read more

The State of the Art - Gymnastics in 2013

By
Just picked up Peter Aykroyd's 1987 book  International Gymnastics: Sport Art or Science?.  Seeing it reminded me that gymnastics is in a constant state of flux and change; its identity has been subject to debate and conflict since the earliest days of competitive gymnastics, well before it existed in the form we recognise today.  I want to try to talk about the state of the sport today, how it compares to past models, how it arrived at this point, and what are the questions arising. I make no apologies for publishing the picture comparisons on this page, which were created by Lifje.  Some have seemed to find them rather challenging in the past, but they are not airbrushed or altered in any way.  Yes, the pictures are purpose selected for the sake of comparison, but they express a truth about the direction the sport has taken over the past few years.  They are not so much about Russia versus America as artistry versus athletics.  I do not pretend...
41 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more