In athletics, a new doping scandal is unfolding, the heroine of which was the sprinter from Bahrain, Salva Aid Nasser. In the fall, she sensationally won the gold medal of the World Cup in 400 meters, and now risks getting a two-year suspension for being unavailable for anti-doping testing. At the same time, the girl herself admitted that she had violated the rules before she achieved major success in her career.
At the last championship of the planet in Doha, the 21-year-old athlete not only won the 400-meter race, but also showed the most outstanding result in 34 years and the third in the history of this discipline, having covered a distance in 48.14 seconds. Only the representative of the German Democratic Republic Marita Kokh (47.60) and the athlete from Czechoslovakia Yarmila Kratokhvilova (47.99), who set world records in the first half of the 1980s, performed better than her in the past.
Nasser was born in Nigeria under the name Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu and moved to Bahrain at age 14. Before the World Cup, her personal best was 49.08 seconds, and the best result in 2019 was 49.17 seconds. Both indicators lost to the leader of the season, Shawn Miller-Uybo from the Bahamas, whose best result in 2019 before the World Cup was 49.05 seconds. What was even more surprising was that Nasser was able to interrupt the 25-month winning streak of her main rival, who also performed very well in the final of the world championship - her stopwatch stopped at around 48.37 seconds.
After her victory with the third result in history, Nasser announced that she would try to break the Koch world record, which this year would be 35 years old. However, on June 4, the Independent Body Against Negative Events in Athletics (AIU) announced that the athlete was suspended. As a reason, Nasser was not available for anti-doping testing. Moreover, according to the rules, a similar measure is used for triple violation of this kind.
Soon, the runner went live on Instagram and said that she had passed tests last year - even before the world championship. At the same time, Nasser noted that she did not consider the incident as something special.
“I have never been a liar and I will not. I just missed three doping tests - that's fine. This happens. It can happen to anyone. I don’t want people to be mistaken about this, because I would never cheat. This year I have not passed doping testing. We are talking about tests last season, held before the World Cup, ”said Nasser.
The athlete noted that she hopes to prove her innocence and continue her performances. She also explained her outstanding results with her natural talent.
“I hope the situation is resolved, because I do not like this image at all, but it happened. Everything will be fine. It's very hard when your name is tarnished. I would never take stimulant drugs. I believe in talent and know that I have it, ”Nasser added.
The words of the athlete caused a stormy reaction on social networks among sports fans and her colleagues. An emotional comment on Twitter was left by the British hammer thrower Mark Dry, who was accused of falsifying the data for indicating a false location in the anti-doping system and received a four-year suspension.
“Three missed tests before the 2019 World Cup in Doha. Damn it, before! And she was allowed to take part in it without suspension. Wake up! What is going on here! Two years ago, I made a disparate mistake, admitted it, and was crucified. Sport is dead. No faith, ”wrote Dry, after which he demanded an explanation from the AIU on the matter.
Nasser is not the first athlete from Bahrain to be charged with anti-doping rule violations. Olympic champion in 3000m hurdles Ruth Jebet and silver medalist of the last Games in the marathon Yunis Kirva are currently serving a four-year suspension for using EPO, and world champion in the 400 m indoor Kemi Adekoya has been suspended due to being discovered in her body steroids.