Aneke Rune, the mother of world No. 13 Holger Rune, has shared her thoughts on the doping case surrounding Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner, currently ranked No. 1 globally.
Rune expressed concern about the substance involved, clostebol, noting how easily it can be transmitted, even unintentionally. “If you read about clostebol, it’s frightening how easily it can be passed on if a third party has used it. For me, that’s almost the scariest part of this case. Think about how many fans tennis players high-five, and what surfaces they touch,” she stated.
She pointed out the varying regulations surrounding clostebol, being prescription-only in many countries but not in Italy. Rune believes this discrepancy highlights the need for stricter measures to protect athletes. Furthermore, she emphasized the potential for contamination from other substances, stressing the importance of reviewing lower threshold limits in doping tests to prevent athletes from having to live in complete isolation.
Referencing examples of unintentional doping, Rune mentioned a case of an athlete testing positive for a substance found in strong alcohol, which could inadvertently enhance performance. She also brought up the issue of steroid contamination in meat, where cows treated with steroids can lead to positive tests in athletes who consume the beef – a problem encountered by several athletes.
Rune argued against overly strict anti-doping measures that could force players into extreme isolation. “They cannot isolate themselves from all people and eat organic bananas all day in fear that a test will show 0.00000000001 traces of something,” she asserted.
Regarding the length of sanctions, Rune questioned the current system, stating, “I personally think that three months and a year of processing is too long. I don’t know enough details of each specific case to say how reasonable it is.”
She highlighted the inconsistency in sanctions for accidental doping violations, noting that “most of the criticism from athletes is that in individual cases where there are clear accidents and not intentional doping, there are such different recommendations.”
In conclusion, Rune urged WADA and ITIA to address these issues, particularly threshold limits and investigation timelines. “But I also think that this is one of the areas, like threshold values, that WADA and ITIA should pay attention to after recent cases; for example, it should not take more than X days to confirm the presence or absence of poisoning, so that athletes can quickly resume their careers, and not sit for a year because some office people messed up with tests with 0.000000001 mg,” she concluded, as quoted by Ekstra Bladet.
