Russian Wrestler’s Doping Scandal Unravels After a Marathon of 9 Years, Court of Arbitration for Sport Drops the Hammer

Russian wrestling prodigy, Abdusalam Gadisov has stood out as a prominent figure in the freestyle wrestling arena. He was the national champion in 2012. Following this, he won the World Freestyle Wrestling Championship in the 97 kg division in 2014. But for Abdusalam Gadisov, things went downhill when a doping test stretched over the course of a staggering nine-year marathon, culminating in a verdict that sent shockwaves through the sporting world.

Following this, in 2015, he won the Russian National Freestyle Wrestling Championship and received a silver medal at the World Championships. Admits the career high, Gadisov’s journey, however, took a dramatic and controversial turn, with him entangled in a doping scandal that, recently in 2023, brought him under the strict hammer of the Court of Arbitration.

The Russian wrestlers’ doping controversy

According to United World Wrestling, the former world champion was recently given a four-year suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This controversy started on August 6, 2015, when Gadisov, the 2014 winner, was subjected to a drug test outside of competition. The Moscow lab had initially declared the sample to be negative. However, that sample was kept in long-term storage, and it unexpectedly came back to haunt Gadisov years later.

In April 2020, the Lausanne lab conducted a re-analysis of the stored sample, and it was tested positive for dehydrochloromethyltestosterone, an anabolic-androgenic steroid prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Gadisov’s career was adversely affected by this revelation, and the community was left in shock. The subsequent legal battle then began, which only made the situation more complicated.

Final verdict shocks the wrestling world

The RUSADA ‘Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee’ ruled on May 27, 2021, that Gadisov had not committed a doping violation. WADA and RUSADA appealed the decision to CAS regarding this.

The CAS heard the matter and, in a landmark ruling recently, determined that Gadisov had indeed committed a doping violation. The repercussions were severe, with CAS ordering the disqualification of all Gadisov’s wins and achievements from August 6, 2015, to August 5, 2019.

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This included the silver medal he had won at the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas. This controversy has left the wrestling world with mixed emotions, torn between admiration for Gadisov’s past achievements and disappointment over the doping scandal.

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