Discussion: Carefully administered, state sponsored, doping program

if you believe Polish skier Justina Kovalchik

I heard some curling guy failed a drug test. Makes me wonder what drugs you'd take for curling, but not enough for me to actually look it up.

Drug - Meldonium
Curler was Russian
Same drug as did in Sharapova.

Just for fun, they ought to announce a surprise, retroactive ban on Vitamin I. That might catch a few athletes out, eh? And it would make almost as much sense.

Just for reference: for last 15 years Justina has being criticizing Norwegian Ski Team for systematic doping with prescription drugs, and getting "approval" by WADA as medical necessity. The names of the drugs are not made public under doctor/patient confidentiality agreement.

The general culture in Norway is a focus on fair play in sports as well as in society at large. While Norway is a small country, maybe a better explanation for its Winter Olympic success is that it is a wealthy country that invests extraordinary financial, human and emotional resources on winter sports. If you are a talented Norwegian endurance athlete, your initial focus is likely to be on XC skiing, because that is where the money and the national pride is. As a result, there are probably another 30-40 Norwegian male skiers that did not qualify for the Norwegian squad, but who potentially could be in contention for any of the other national XC ski teams that are competing at the Olympics.

Kowalczyk criticized Norwegians, especially Marit Bjorgen, for Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) of anti-asthma medication. The specific asthma medications used are public knowledge.