The youngest child was only 12 years old, so widespread is doping among minors

The Kamila Valiyeva doping case was recently closed. The Russian figure skater was banned for four years by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). As a 15-year-old, Valiyeva tested positive at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. It was proven that she was taking a heart drug that is banned in sports, because it increases blood flow to the heart during physical strain and can thus increase performance.

Doping in children?! The outrage was great. Now a report from WADA shows that Valiyeva was far from the only underage athlete who was diagnosed with doping abuse.

Since 2012, 1,416 juniors have been arrested, responsible for a total of 1,518 doping cases. Not in any case was there a violation; sometimes it turned out that someone who had been convicted had a license for the drug in question, such as Ritalin for the treatment of ADHD.

About 80 percent of all cases resulted in a sanction. Young athletes were most often caught in weightlifting, track and field and swimming. Broken down by country, the most common cases involved Russia, India and China. A minor was also punished in Switzerland. The youngest child tested was only eight years old. The youngest person to be punished for doping abuse was twelve years old.

Does the motivation for cheating come from these children themselves? Or are their regulators actually behind the doping? WADA noted signs that the second assumption may be correct. For example in Romania, where four underage boxers were tested for furosemide at the same time. The marker is used to remove traces of other doping substances from the body. In China, Belarus and Kazakhstan, several athletes from athletics, figure skating and weightlifting were also caught with the same banned substance.

The WADA report, called ‘Operation Refuge’, focuses on the consequences that a doping violation can have for minors. Many described the trauma of being excluded from their sport and rejected by friends or family members, it is said. This rejection had a significant psychological impact.

All minors spoken to talked about the enormous pressure and its consequences before, during and after the sanction. One athlete is quoted in the report as saying:

One girl described how much her trainer pushed her to maintain her weight. He demanded the impossible to delay the effects of puberty:

For Ernst König, director of Swiss Sport Integrity, the matter seems clear. In the NZZ he said: “It is unlikely that minors will use doping on their own initiative. The impression is rather that young people who are particularly deserving of protection are often deliberately burned.

Athletes are ‘bred’ and it is generally accepted that many will fall by the wayside on the way to Olympus. According to König, it is therefore absolutely necessary to investigate the talent’s environment if a doping case occurs among minors.

WADA calls on national anti-doping agencies not to take the issue lightly. Sport must remain a safe space for children, WADA President Witold Banka said. He hopes the report creates a sense of urgency for action. The first adjustments have already been made in Switzerland. Inspectors are trained in dealing with children and young people. In addition, two inspectors must usually be present when testing minors. (RAM)