USA swimmers suggest Russia is still doping

doubledragon

American swimmer Ryan Murphy and others suggested that Russia is still doping.

'Huge mental drain:' Olympics swimmers question whether Russian gold medalist is a doper

TOKYO — The controversy over the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow about 330 athletes from Russia to compete at these Games despite years of state-sponsored doping finally bubbled to the surface Friday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre after the men’s 200-meter backstroke, where the silver and bronze medalist called into question the Russian gold medalist’s victory.

“It is a huge mental drain on me … that I’m swimming in a race that’s probably not clean,” Ryan Murphy, one of the captains of the U.S. Olympic swimming team, told reporters in the mixed zone after winning the silver medal behind Russia’s Evgeny Rylov.

“It frustrates me, but I have to swim the field that’s next to me,” Murphy said. “I don’t have the bandwidth to train for the Olympics at a very high level and try to lobby the people who are making the decisions that they’re making the wrong decisions.”

Murphy, 26, the 2016 Olympic champion in both the 100 and 200 backstroke who settled for a bronze to Rylov’s gold in the 100 backstroke earlier this week, was not alone in his concerns about Russian doping.

'I don't know if it was 100% clean' - American Ryan Murphy on 200m backstroke race

'It’s frustrating knowing there's a state-sponsored doping program going on and not more being done to tackle that,” bronze medalist Luke Greenbank of Great Britain said. “It’s obviously a very difficult situation not knowing whether the race is clean. … It’s a strange situation but I’ve got to keep my mind on my own situation and focus on what I can control.”

Neither identified by name those who they believe are cheating, and Murphy later congratulated both Rylov and Greenbank.

When asked directly whether he is clean, with Murphy and Greenbank seated beside him in a news conference, Rylov replied, “I have always been for clean competition. … From the bottom of my heart, I am for clean sport. … Ryan didn’t accuse me of anything, so I’d rather not comment.”

doubledragon

American rower Megan Kalmoe says it gives her a nasty feeling seeing Russia win medals because they shouldn't even be here.

U.S. rower vents after Russians win silver medal, says they 'shouldn't even be here'

Russia may not be allowed to officially take part in the Tokyo Games due to a massive state-sponsored doping scandal that made a mockery of the 2014 Olympics, but their presence is definitely being felt.

As you might imagine, some athletes aren't happy about that.

U.S. rower Megan Kalmoe emphatically showed she was among that group on Wednesday, after "Russian Olympic Committee" athletes Vasilisa Stepanova and Elena Oriabinskaia took silver in the women's pair event at Tokyo. Kalmoe lamented watching a crew "who shouldn't even be here" achieving Olympic glory, calling it a "nasty feeling."

Seeing a crew who shouldn’t even be here walk away with a silver is a nasty feeling. Really disappointing overall and I feel for the other athletes in the A Final. Big love to all my friends and frenemies who gave it everything out there.

— Megan Kalmoe (@megankalmoe) July 29, 2021
That tweet quickly drew a litany of replies, many of them in Russian.

Kalmoe, whose pair finished fourth in the first heat of the women's pair competition, expanded on her thoughts in an interview with row2k's Ed Hewitt:

"Well, I just posted on Twitter a couple of things that I'm sure some people will be upset about - or maybe they won't - but I think a lot of people in this field are very, very classy women who are probably a little bit too polite to say some of the stuff that I'm willing to say, especially because I wasn't in the A-final, and also because Russia beat us by enough places in our qualifier that they didn't take a spot from us, but having them here and having them walk away with one of the medals was really hard for me to watch.

"I don't think that they should have been here, and there are a lot of women here that I think were very qualified to win one of those medals, and them not having that opportunity because that boat was here was very problematic for me as a competitor."

Kalmoe's tweet came amid a disappointing showing for the American rowers, as the team failed to medal for the first time in modern history. Russia, meanwhile, added a second silver on Thursday with Hannah Prakatsen's second-place finish in the single sculls.

Kalmoe is hardly the first athlete to openly complain about Russia's contingent of athletes being allowed to complete in the Olympics after what the country did in Sochi, which was the most coordinated doping scheme in international sports history. She definitely wasn't the last, as American swimmer Ryan Murphy went even further on Friday by claiming that some Russians still aren't clean.

That was nearly true with the Russian rowing team, which pulled its quadruple sculls team shortly before the Tokyo Games after two of its members tested positive for a banned substance.

perkdog

The kid in the picture is pretty jacked, you do not get that type of build from swimming alone so I’m sure weightlifting is a huge part of training? If so there will always be eyebrows raised about potential PED use, that’s never going to end

thisistheshow

@perkdog said:
The kid in the picture is pretty jacked, you do not get that type of build from swimming alone so I’m sure weightlifting is a huge part of training? If so there will always be eyebrows raised about potential PED use, that’s never going to end

A lot of the male swimmers have this general build, with abs, very broad shoulders, and huge lats. But many are not as big as him. Still, not uncommon.

perkdog

@thisistheshow said:

@perkdog said:
The kid in the picture is pretty jacked, you do not get that type of build from swimming alone so I’m sure weightlifting is a huge part of training? If so there will always be eyebrows raised about potential PED use, that’s never going to end

A lot of the male swimmers have this general build, with abs, very broad shoulders, and huge lats. But many are not as big as him. Still, not uncommon.

Obviously I don’t really follow it I just thought the OP guy looked pretty muscular

thisistheshow

@perkdog said:

@thisistheshow said:

@perkdog said:
The kid in the picture is pretty jacked, you do not get that type of build from swimming alone so I’m sure weightlifting is a huge part of training? If so there will always be eyebrows raised about potential PED use, that’s never going to end

A lot of the male swimmers have this general build, with abs, very broad shoulders, and huge lats. But many are not as big as him. Still, not uncommon.

Obviously I don’t really follow it I just thought the OP guy looked pretty muscular

........
He is for sure. He actually does look a bit more jacked than your normal swimmer. But like I said they are usually pretty ripped with their lats being the muscle that really stands out. I guess from the swimming motion they just over develop that muscle.

doubledragon

Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

erikthredd

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

doubledragon

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

thisistheshow

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

.........
What am I looking at?

doubledragon

@thisistheshow said:

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

.........
What am I looking at?

He's a Russian swimmer, his name's Igor kreschov, and he's unstoppable!

erikthredd

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

Clearly he's been skipping Leg day.

thisistheshow

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

Clearly he's been skipping Leg day.

...........
He reminds me of Skips from Regular Show.
...........

Alfonz24

AFLfan

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

DD, I think you meant to put this in your Bigfoot thread?

doubledragon

@AFLfan said:

@doubledragon said:

@erikthredd said:

@doubledragon said:
Of course Russia is still doping, just look at the guy they have competing today in the 400m relay.

Bro, does he even lift?

No sir, just dopes, check out those abs, and he's very feisty!

DD, I think you meant to put this in your Bigfoot thread?

Yes, I could definitely picture Igor in the Bigfoot thread. 🤔