Therese Johaug’s doping suspension hit the skiing world like a bomb.
But Thomas Wassberg just shocked everyone with his verdict on the whole thing.
– I think it’s a bit wrong, said the icon.
Therese Johaug was the biggest star in the skiing world when she tested positive for the anabolic steroid Clostebol. According to Johaug and the Norwegian confederation, Johaug should have received the OK from Norway’s team doctor to use a lip salve, which contained the banned substance.
Johaug’s shock
The doping announcement hit like a bomb, and just about everyone liked Johaug’s actions, and subsequently the doping verdict. Johaug was eventually banned for 18 months, which was a blow both for the Norwegian, who was at the peak of his career, and for Norway, which lost its biggest star. Many thought that Johaug acted clumsily and that she deserved her doping ban, but not Thomas Wassberg.
When the Swedish icon, one of our greatest skiers of all time, found out about Johaug’s doping report, he reacted calmly, rather than condemning her outright.
– I don’t know what to say, it seems like a storm in a teacup, he said.
Wassberg’s unexpected words
Thomas Wassberg argued that Johaug did not deserve the huge criticism she received, as there was no de facto doping taken to enhance her performance.
– If it is now the case that she has used a skin cream or the like, I have a hard time imagining that the amount in the preparation has a performance-enhancing effect. There are so many remedies and creams that it is hopeless to keep track, he said.
Wassberg also believed that athletes who were clearly caught doping by mistake, i.e. without any attempt to improve their performance, should be treated differently from those who deliberately doped.
– Then it goes a little wrong, I think. Those who have done real performance-enhancing doping must of course be suspended. But if it’s innocent stuff like this and you don’t know the reason, it’s difficult, I think.
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