An ex-mountain biker was called as a witness on Tuesday in the "Operation Aderlass" doping trial against Erfurt sports doctor Mark Schmidt: Austrian marathon rider Christina Kollmann-Forstner. The former national champion was a client of Schmidt's and was summoned by the Austrian Anti-Doping Commission in July 2019 to a four-year doping ban was sentenced. The reason: in the period from November 2016 to the end of 2018, she had used autologous blood doping and also acquired, possessed and used the growth hormone Norditropin on herself in 2018. As a result of the ruling, Kollmann-Forstner's results were cancelled from 1 November 2016, her titles were revoked (including the 2018 World Championship silver medal) and she had to pay back entry and prize money. In August 2019, the 32-year-old was also suspended for "serious commercial fraud and violation of the anti-doping law" by the Regional Court of Ried im Innkreis sentenced to a suspended sentence.
Schmidt tested doping preparation on Kollmann-Forstner
The Austrian, who is banned until 2023, appeared as a witness in the bloodletting trial, as the Munich public prosecutor's office is accusing the main defendant Mark Schmidt of dangerous bodily harm in addition to years of blood doping. As was revealed on Tuesday during the witness hearing, Schmidt not only helped the marathon biker with blood doping cures, but also injected her with dried blood cells in 2017. The mode of action of the preparation from the USA was supposed to have similar effects to blood doping and increase the oxygen content in the blood. However, after Kollmann-Forstner struggled with side effects such as white fingers and toes after the first treatment, the one-off application was discontinued. With her further statements on the incident (see Report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung), the witness further incriminated the main defendant.
Kollmann-Forstner makes serious accusations
However, further statements and accusations made by Kollmann-Forstner during the trial are a source of controversy. When she made her breakthrough into the world elite, nine out of ten of the top riders had already been banned or were currently serving a ban. So if you wanted to ride at the front, you would have had no other choice. If you look at the list of results from the 2016 World Championships, you will see prominent names such as Jolanda Neff, Sally Bigham, Ariane Lüthi and Annika Langvad. If you relate Kollmann-Forstner's statement to the time of her greatest success - silver at the 2018 Marathon World Championships - the top 10 is also characterised by top riders who have been successful for years, such as Maja Wloszczowska, Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja and Esther Süss. These are all athletes who have been among the world's best for years and have never been confronted with specific doping allegations, let alone convicted. Only the Italian Mara Fumagalli and the Slovenian Blaza Pintaric (formerly Klemencic) are or were convicted doping offenders and were active at the time.
But Kollmann-Forstner goes one step further, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on the trial:
Chemical coaching is commonplace in this price category and the athletes are open about it. In some teams from certain countries, certain medical care is even offered.
In the marathon and racing scene, such statements and blanket condemnations cause displeasure. We spoke to three-time marathon world champion Alban Lakata, who has been following his compatriot's statements and has taken a clear stance on the matter: "I think it's weak of her to make such a statement after the fact. But that is exactly the pattern that many doping offenders later use to legitimise their actions." Nevertheless, the East Tyrolean also believes that sport and the organisations have a duty to establish a tougher approach in the fight against doping and not to offer doping offenders a stage. After all, why are convicted athletes like Fumagalli and Pintaric, or the Russian Alexey Medvedev were nominated for international competitions again by their national organisations after serving their doping bans? However, Lakata does not want to accept the sweeping condemnations of the entire world elite: "It may be that one or two of those who were among the world's top marathon riders at the time have a doping past. But her accusations also include some big names who were never guilty of anything. Such a sweeping statement does not reflect well on our sport! I hope that she will set the record straight."
