The Wrong Way to Success: The Chemistry of a Sporting Scandal

Diamonds in the Rough

6th place in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Russia made an incredible comeback to top the medal table as the host nation in 2014. It was later uncovered that a third of these medals were awarded to athletes whose names appeared in an elaborate governmentcontrolled doping plan. Under the cover of darkness urine samples were passed through a hole in the wall, “tamper proof” seals removed and replaced unnoticed, and dirty specimens exchanged for clean substitutes. But what were they hiding?

Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, Director of the RussianAntidopingAgency at Sochi Winter Olympics.

Source – The New York Times

The director of the Russian antidoping laboratory at the time, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, has since disclosed the extent of the elaborate project, which also fuelled many of the top Russian athletes at the London Olympic Games. He admits to having experimented on himself when putting his PhD in analytical chemistry to use By Ellen Wilson

After a disappointing By Tom Neal

by developing a winning cocktail of banned drugs. Three anabolic steroids were the key component in this rulebreaking formulation – Metenolone, Trenbolone and Oxandrolone – delivered in whiskey or Vermouth to speed up absorption. These are artificial variants of the male hormone testosterone that produce a muscle building (anabolic) and male pubertystyle (androgenic) effect on the body. Consequently, the window in which the athletes could put on their best performance was extended by an authorities would want him silenced.

increased recovery rate, as protein and red blood cell production were boosted.

Modifications to testosterone are required to extend the relatively short half-life of the hormone, which is easily broken down by the liver. Anabolic steroids work by binding to specific receptor molecules in muscle cells, which consequently activate the replication of DNA to make more Maximum gains have been seen where the steroids are combined with resistance training, as this is thought to produce more receptor sites for the steroids to bind to. The body automatically attempts to compensate for the unexpected increase in testosterone-like hormones by decreasing its natural production. Thus, when users come off the treatment they often struggle to maintain their muscle gains, and many actually see a loss.

Dr Rodchenkov fled to Los Angeles after the doping scandal was uncovered, fearing that the Russian There, he became advisor to Ben Fogel in the development of his Academy Award-winning film “Icarus” that documents this incredibly elaborate – and highly successful – sporting scandal.

proteins.

Anabolic Steroids administered to Russian athletes under the government controlled doping scheme.

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