In the past week, hard doping news has been heard about athletics. The biggest headlines were collected by the 19-year-old Issam Asingan four-year suspension.
Born and studying in the USA, Asinga represents Suriname. And Asinga’s mother Ngozi Mwanamwambwa that father Tommy Asinga are former Olympic runners.
Last year, Asinga became the youngest in history to break 10 seconds in the 100 meters. In Brazil, he clocked a wild under-20 ME time of 9.89 in the 100 meters and won the South American championship at the age of 18.
Before that, he ran a time of 9.83 in Florida and beat the superstar by Noah Lylesbut the tailwind was too much to be statistically valid.
Asinga was placed on a temporary suspension from competition in August. He raved about a substance called GW1516.
Now, on May 27, the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit), which oversees the ethics of athletics, confirmed his four-year suspension.
Asinga lost his ME time and South American championship because of the cart.
Suek’s medical expert Pekka Rauhala says that an average of 20 athletes in the world die from the substance per year. The reading is based on WADA statistics from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
What GW1516?
The substance in question was developed as a medicine in the early 2000s. It was studied, among other things, as a drug alternative for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, such as for the treatment of diabetes.
However, the drug was banned in 2007 when it was found to cause cancer quickly and abundantly in animal experiments. The drug was never used in humans.
– After that, there is no information about what kind of adverse effects it might cause in people. The risk of cancer is of course the highest and that is why the drug trial was stopped, says Pekka Rauhala.
However, the substance’s performance-enhancing properties led to its ending up in the world of doping. According to the AIU, GW1516 changes the way the body metabolizes fat.
– Animal experiments showed that it improves endurance performance, has a beneficial effect on metabolism and may also burn fat, Rauhala says about the reasons for doping.
– But it has not been proven whether this is the case in humans, Rauhala refers to drug testing that was once stopped.
Wada has defined GW1516 as a “hormonal and metabolic modulator”. Anti-doping organizations have warned athletes about health hazards.
GW1516 has caused doping scandals in, for example, cycling, weightlifting and athletics. Perhaps the most well-known of the substance is Nijel Amoswho won silver in the 800 meters at the London Olympics.
A strange explanation for the cart
Asinga plans to appeal to CAS, the international court of appeals for sport.
– We just want to save Issam’s career. He just wants his life back, lawyer Paul J. Greene said.
Asinga’s explanation for the cart has received a lot of column space. According to his claim he got the substance into his body from the candies used for recovery, which were Gatorade products. Gatorade makes sports drinks and foods.
Asinga claims that he received the candies as a gift in Los Angeles at a Gatorade event on July 10, 2023. He gave a positive doping sample on July 18.
In addition, according to Asinga, the logos on the product confirmed that the candies are suitable for sports use.
– I’m in a situation where I know I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not going to give up on my dreams. It’s outrageous that the facts are being ignored and just trying to turn the narrative against me.
Asinga claimed that the candy packages he received have since been tested at a Wada-approved lab and found to contain traces of GW1516.
In addition, Asinga stated in his statement that Gatorade’s parent company, PepsiCo, has not agreed to deliver products for the investigation from the same manufacturing batch from which he received his gift.
According to the AIU, Asinga was unable to prove that the candies were the source of the banned substance.
The AIU stated that to ensure fairness, explanations based on pollution must be thoroughly investigated and the evidence must not be based on speculation.
The AIU wrote that it had tested a sealed can of Gatorade from the same batch Asinga used and it came back negative.
The cans of Gatorade that Asinga itself provided for testing were not sealed and, according to the AIU, contained more GW1516 outside the package than inside the can.
According to AIU, this practically excludes the possibility that GW1516 could have been found in the test due to contamination caused by raw materials.
Asinga wrote that he respects AIU’s role but is shocked.
– They gave the harshest sentence without considering these facts and the evidence presented.
Asinga also wrote that he is depressed that the trouble is the result of a large company’s misleading product labeling and that the company is refusing to supply him with samples.
Pekka Rauhala does not believe that GW1516 can be obtained from any food.
– Then it’s about products that are sold as food supplements, so to speak. Such products may have added substances that are thought to benefit performance. These are probably the most typical cases that become doping cartels.
Other carts
The Brazilian who celebrated the pole vault Olympic victory at his home games in 2016 Thiago Braz received a 16-month ban. Braz has filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS.
The collar will last until the end of November this year, so it is unlikely that the top brass will be seen at the Paris Olympics.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Braz won bronze. In addition, he is the 2022 World Cup silver man. Brazil’s record 603 is from the final that brought the Olympic victory in Rio.
Braz, 30, gave a doping sample last July, which revealed the metabolite of ostarine. Ostarine can be used to enhance muscle growth and performance.
The AIU demanded a four-year sentence for Brazil. It sees Braz as acting “recklessly” and deliberately ignoring the risk associated with supplements.
However, the International Association of Athletics Federations’ disciplinary tribunal found that Braz had relied on the advice of his medical team despite being personally aware of the risk of contamination from supplements.
So the majority of the panel settled for 16 months, considering that Brazi’s case does not involve “significant error or negligence”.
Kenyan marathon runner Josephine Chepkoech failed at the Seville marathon in February 2024 for testosterone and was banned for no less than seven years.
Chepkoech finished second in the Seville marathon with his record of 2:22:38.
The reason for the long suspension is the first ban Chepkoech suffered in 2015–17.
Sources: AIU, ESPN, NBC Sports