Russia: Anti-Doping Agency no longer allowing athletes to drink beer and test for doping

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is no longer allowing athletes to drink beer and test for banned substances, the Yahoo Sports reported on March 1.

Russian anti-doping agency deputy CEO Margarita Pakhnotskaya told the Associated Press athletes would drink a post-race beer to help their dehydrated bodies produce a urine sample for drug tests. Alcohol suppresses the production of an anti-diuretic hormone, meaning the body produces more urine than it normally would.

Now, Pakhnotskaya said, they will have to drink water to help aid the process due to “aggressive” athletes and the impact on the test results.

"It is not very good for athletes' behavior at doping control, politeness and following the rules," she told the AP. "They'd be rude, a bit aggressive."

She told TASS, the Russian News Agency, track and field athletes were the ones most likely to drink beer before tests.

Per the AP, the agency found that pre-test beer can interfere with the results of the “athlete biological passport” program. Initiated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the objective of the “athlete biological passport” is to monitor variables of an athlete’s body that will over time show the effect of doping. It includes panels of markers that look at such patterns as oxygen transport. It is one of the ways the organization is monitoring doping along with more traditional routes.

“Beer influenced it a lot. It could cause or hide some changes,” Pakhnotskaya told the AP.

She also said there’s no evidence athletes knew that and were trying to manipulate tests.

Athletes are to drink only non-alcoholic beverages from when they first hear they’ll be tested until the test is done, per a report by TASS. If they don’t follow the guidelines, first an “official warning” will be given then a tougher punishment in the event it happens again, per the report.

RUSADA was only recently reinstated by WADA after a three-year suspension despite outcry by fellow anti-doping agencies, organizations and athletes. Earlier this year it faced the possibility of more sanctions when it missed a deadline to give WADA date from its anti-doping lab in Moscow.

03 March, 2019