How does a 15-year-old teenage girl’s body end up with a heart medication that is one of the harshest on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s penalty scale?
And why are there also three other substances classified as questionable in purpose of use in the doping sample of the athlete in question?
Or how is it even possible that the body of a 13-15-year-old teenage girl has been “supported” with almost 60 different compounds?
Among other things, the International Court of Appeal for Sports, CAS, was looking for answers to these questions in September of last year, when it dealt with the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva doping case. One of the most followed doping sagas in history was discussed behind closed doors to the media at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Only the few and the chosen ones got into the courtroom. This group included a doctor from Lahti Sergei Ilyukov, who is more than familiar with matters related to Russia and especially Russian anti-doping activities. Ilyukov appeared at the trial as one of the experts called by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency.
– It may sound big and wonderful, but for me it was a working day among others, Iljukov tells Urheilu in the lobby of a restaurant in Lahti at the end of February.
Urheilu has asked Iljukov for an interview because the CAS has given its verdict in Valieva’s case. The Russian skating star’s original four-year doping sentence remains in effect.
– I wasn’t making a decision whether Valieva’s defense is credible or not. However, based on our discussions, the CAS panel has considered that the scenario presented by Valieva is not credible. And I don’t disagree with that, says Ilyukov.
The CAS decision can be read in its entirety on its website. The decision is 129 pages long and contains issues that Urheilu has asked Iljukov to disclose.
Before that, however, it is worth opening up why and how Ilyukov ended up in the Swiss courtroom in the first place.
Access to the core of Russia’s anti-doping activities
Born in Soviet Estonia, Iljukov trained and graduated in Finland as a sports medicine specialist. He has lived with his family in Lahti for almost 20 years and created a career as a researcher in addition to medical work.
The combination mentioned above combined with the ability to speak Russian has been a currency, especially in recent years, when Russia has come under international scrutiny due to doping scandals and the corruption of the national anti-doping agency Rusada.
Rusada, which was shelved from international anti-doping activities because of its sin list, became Ilyukov’s workplace in 2020. This happened thanks to Wada, the World Anti-Doping Agency, who recommended Ilyukov to Rusada’s board.
– I got to familiarize myself with the operation and get to know people and define goals. During the process, it was necessary to find solutions that satisfy all parties and to monitor that everything goes according to the rules.
Ilyukov admits that there were cultural clashes, but refuses to give individual examples, citing the duty of confidentiality.
– Things can be handled in many different ways. I brought perspectives that others didn’t necessarily think of, what the action might look like through the eyes of a Westerner. A lot of energy was spent on this, Ilyukov is content to state on a general level.
Ilyukov resigned from Rusada on February 24, 2022 – immediately after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
– Rusada’s operations are largely autonomous, but independence from the state… on Russian soil, it’s quite a hypothetical concept. Sports is a very important agenda for the state. In the endgame, the action would serve the state’s agenda.
– When Russia started the war in Ukraine, it was not unclear to me whether I want to contribute to the benefit of such a state. The decision was easy and quick, Ilyukov recounts the reasons why he left Rusada.
However, Valieva’s case came to light two weeks before Iljukov and Rusada’s roads diverged.
Strong influence of history
Ilyukov sits in the CAS courtroom with five other experts. In addition to the Finn, Wada has invited Wada’s medical director by Olivier Rabin and a Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg Yorck Olaf Schumacher. The University of Helsinki has been named as the entity represented by Iljukov.
A sports medicine specialist is responsible for Valieva’s defense Eduard Bezuglovthe long-time doctor of the Russian national football team and chairman of the medical board of the football association, and Andrei Zholinsky, chief physician of the Russian Olympic team. Zholinski is a military surgeon by training, who studied at the St. Petersburg Military Medical Academy.
The experts have already given statements in advance, on the basis of which the discussion will take place. Valieva’s defense has openly listed 60 different compounds that have been used as a “pharmacological support program” to help Valieva play sports.
Some of the compounds are conventional supplements such as Omega 3 fatty acids. Some can be found on Wada’s watch list. Substances that end up on the list are considered to be banned, but additional evidence is still needed.
One such substance is ecdysterone, which was developed in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
– It is a plant-based steroid, an anabolic substance. There is starting to be more and more evidence that it improves performance and promotes, for example, muscle growth, Ilyukov describes.
– If you think about the original studies, its purpose was obvious.
Another attention-grabbing substance is hypoxen.
– It is a pharmacological substance that is used to some extent in the treatment of diseases. It was originally developed in the 1970s. Its purpose was to promote the body’s adaptation to hot conditions, practically in the war in Afghanistan, Ilyukov says.
According to Iljukov, the Russian colleagues in the courtroom spoke of Valieva’s medication as a completely normal matter. Pharmacology is a science that studies the effects of drugs on the body. According to Iljukov, in Russia, national team athletes get the so-called pharmacological support treatment, whose roots go back to the mid-1950s.
– At that time, it was considered that sports medicine pretty much went hand in hand with space and military medicine. One of the specialist doctors’ duties was to support training and sports with pharmacological means.
Many of the substances have since been banned. Ilyukov says that history is still strongly present in Russian coaching culture.
– The same doctors treat, for example, nuclear submarine personnel, athletes, space and military pilots.
– In the West, pharmacology is used to treat diseases. The purpose is completely different. It is not considered ethically correct to give medicine for which there is insufficient evidence of long-term safety.
Although the CAS panel heard very different points of view from Western and Eastern experts, Bezuglov and Zholinski remained steadfast in their position.
– They feel that they are helping the athlete by supporting him pharmacologically so that it happens within the limits of international rules, says Ilyukov.
– The substances are used to protect health, so that the athlete can function in extreme conditions. Our views in the West are much stricter. In Russia, on the other hand, old, rooted practices and views overlap with the new trend, evidence-based medicine.
FMBA supportive care
Based on Ilyukov’s story, one could get the impression that hopes for a change in practices related to Russian top sports are a distant dream. However, Ilyukov does not feel this way.
Valieva’s case is an example of this. The Russian anti-doping agency Rusada accused Valieva of a doping violation and sought a punishment for her with Wada and the International Figure Skating Union ISU.
Only a disciplinary body independent of Rusada’s board spoke in favor of revoking the doping penalty, which could not turn the heads of Ilyukov and members of Rusada’s board.
– The views (with the disciplinary body) were different from the beginning.
A strong alliance between sports and the state is a double-edged sword for Russia. The state values top sports, which is reflected in the status of the stars. Ilyukov compares the status of an athlete to that of a diplomat.
– Pharmacology is not the most important factor explaining the results of Russian athletes on a large scale. In Russia, a lot is invested in competitive sports and it is valued in a completely different way than in the West.
However, the union of sports and the state makes it difficult to update the established ways of doing things in a country of 140 million people. The central leadership familiar from the Soviet Union is strongly present in sports.
This can be seen in the letter combination FMBA, which is repeated 21 times in the CAS decision. It is the state medical institute Federal Medical and Biological Agency.
– It is an institution that organizes occupational health care for soldiers and closed cities. This national chain of clinics takes care of the athletes of the national team. Valiyeva received pharmacological support treatment given by an official body, says Ilyukov.
A terrible situation
Based on Iljukov’s background, the position of an individual Russian athlete in the big system of his country is anything but easy.
There are still questions about the athlete’s responsibility, because according to international anti-doping rules, the athlete is responsible for what is found in his body.
But how can 13-15-year-old Valieva be held responsible? Ilyukov does not want to assess the degree of Valieva’s guilt.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Ilyukov shares CAS’s view on the four-year ban. Since Ilyukov was an expert in the case, he does not want to detail his personal views.
– The CAS panel has decided based on the evidence presented. I share that opinion. To go through the details, you have to consider all the opinions and the whole process, which is relatively big. CAS did this.
Valijeva was one of the producers of top skaters Eteri Tutberidzen to the coaching group. After the cart, Tutberidze has shirked his responsibility.
– In this case, it is necessary to examine the responsibility of the background troops, says Ilyukov.
The review also continues. Four days after the interview, Rusada’s independent disciplinary committee, which was responsible for Valieva’s defense, appealed the CAS decision to the last instance of international sports law, the Swiss Supreme Court.