Russian Bobsledder Who Wore “I Don’t Do Doping” Shirt Gets Busted For Doping

Socrates Johnson8 years ago

If you’ve been watching the Winter Olympics, you’ve probably noticed athletes competing under the abbreviation OAR. As much as we’d all love for that to be the band of “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker” fame, it actually stands for “Olympic Athletes From Russia,” a distinction forced upon Russian athletes who wished to compete in the Games as a punishment for the Russian doping scandal in Sochi.

In an Olympics full of statements, Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva tried to make one of her own and separate herself from the Russian doping stigma by sporting a shirt that read “I Don’t Do Doping.” It would have been an effective message… if it were true.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Leading up to the start of these Games, a Russian bobsledder bravely wore a T-shirt under her training suit that said, “I Don’t Do Doping.”

On Friday, that same bobsledder failed a doping test.

Russian bobsled federation president Alexander Zubkov announced that Nadezhda Sergeeva tested positive for a banned heart medication. She is the second athlete in the 2018 Winter Olympics to flunk a test. Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was found to have meldonium in his system earlier in the Games.

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After Sergeeva and partner Anastasia Kocherzhova finished 12th in the two-man bobsled on Wednesday, she was asked by Yahoo Sports if she was disappointed about the O.A.R. label on her suit. She said she was.

“If we are here, and we are clean,” she said, “we should be able to walk under our flag.”

Yikes! Not a good look for Nadezhda. Not a good look at all. Wearing an “I Don’t Do Doping” shirt, flat-out saying that you’re clean, and then getting caught for doping is like if Tim Tebow were spotted in an orgy wearing a “WWJD” shirt.

That Russian curler has to be breathing a sigh of relief, though. That 24-hour news cycle really can work wonders..

[via Yahoo Sports]

Image via Wikimedia Commons