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The chosen space in the House of Sports in Ittigen near Bern should underline the symbolism of the media event. In the “fair play” meeting room, Mathias Flückiger and his team of advisors invite you to fully reopen the suspected doping case – from their point of view. The 34-year-old top mountain biker says the name of the room is “coincidence”. And yet he emphasizes: “It fits. I stand for fair play.”
perpetrator or victim? During this long, complex and repeatedly emotional press conference, the Tokyo Olympic silver medal winner speaks in detail about the “hardest months of his life” and the point at which his “world came crashing down.”
Flashback: Flückiger was found to have 0.3 nanograms per milliliter of the anabolic substance Zeranol during a doping test on June 5, 2022 after winning the Swiss championship. Because the finding was below the specified threshold of 5.0 nanograms per milliliter, it was not automatically considered a positive doping sample. He was assessed as supposedly atypical, after which Swiss Sport Integrity (SSI, formerly Antidoping Switzerland) arranged further investigation. On August 18, a day before the European Championship race in Munich, SSI finally took Flückiger out of circulation. But four months later, the Swiss Olympic Disciplinary Chamber (DK) lifted the provisional ban – it had followed Flückiger’s representation. This accuses SSI of procedural errors.
For Flückiger, this was only a partial success. The ban, which has been lifted since December, is not equivalent to an acquittal, because the case has not yet been closed. But the Oberaargauer has recently gained new confidence.¨
‘All successes have been destroyed’
He steps “nervous” in front of the media, as he readily admits, but is also happy “to be here again at all”. There were times when he no longer believed in a return to racing. When he heard about the doping test on the team bus on August 18, it came as a “huge shock” to him: “It was the day I was one step away from the abyss.” All the emotions and successes experienced by the former overall World Cup winner were ruined by the accusation, he says in a trembling voice: “For the first few hours and days I didn’t know if I could bear the burden. If I want to wear them at all. For the first time in my life I lost hope.”
His personal environment, especially his girlfriend Lisa and his brother Lukas, gave him strength at the time, says Flückiger. And together with his team of advisors, he began to recap what happened. Now, months later, he explains: “I want to show that my case has become a doping case, when it should never have been.”
Flückiger’s side relies on a mandatory document from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). The introduction of the threshold value for some anabolic substances should reduce the risk of athletes being suspended for harmless doping use. In other words: With a minimal amount of the prohibited substance, this may indicate contamination (via meat or medicines).
Flückiger’s team accuses the investigative authority of not following usual protocol. And not counting him until August 18. And worst of all, according to the prescribed handling, the case or the preliminary injunction should never have been made public.
The DK followed Flückiger’s presentation. Now the veteran, who is no longer suspended, can start again, which he did spontaneously last time in Banyoles (Sp). The ball is now in SSI’s court, with a decision expected soon. When exactly, the authority cannot say at a glance: “The assessment of the factual facts is the subject of the clarifications in the results management process, the process is currently ongoing. Due to the pending case, Swiss Sport Integrity cannot provide any further information.”
‘Can actually rule out doping’
Lawyer Thilo Pachmann and former anti-doping expert Matthias Kamber are part of the Flückiger camp. The first does not only refer to procedural errors. But also to the doping control on June 5, 2022, which according to the rules did not take place in Leysin: “A lot went wrong from the start.”
Kamber believes in “a happy ending” in the case of the Swiss top mountain biker: “If I look at the whole thing, I can actually exclude doping. There must be contamination, from meat or other products. Even if you never know where the contamination comes from, you could follow this line of reasoning.”
Flückiger, meanwhile, says he is looking forward to his official start of the season on March 19 in Gränichen. But his ultimate goal is to put this story behind him as soon as possible. And yet he concludes: «I don’t want her to be forgotten. I want people to remember that when they talk about me. She’s part of me now. And she also left a scar.”
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
