What Is True/Slant?
275+ knowledgeable contributors.
Reporting and insight on news of the moment.
Follow them and join the news conversation.
 

Mar. 20 2010 - 8:20 pm | 397 views | 0 recommendations | 3 comments

Swedish curler Glenn Ikonen in 2010 Paralympic drug scandal

Glenn Ikonen, Swedish vice-skip, skips Paralympics

Glenn Ikonen, Swedish vice-skip, skips Paralympic curling semifinals

Oh, this is sad.

He’s going down in history, all right, but not for representing his country at the Paralympic Games. Instead, Glenn Ikonen, vice-skip of the Swedish curling team has found sudden, worldwide fame for being the first and so far only 2010 Olympic OR Paralympic athlete removed from competition for testing positive for banned substances. He is the first Winter Paralympian to fail a drug test since 2002.

“I am shocked. I couldn’t imagine this. I am an old man. I’m 54 years old…Of course I’m terribly sad. I’m in shock. I wasn’t trying to hide anything.”

The drug he freely admits to taking? Metroprolol, a beta-blocker prescribed by his doctor to treat his chronic high blood pressure, and which confers no advantage in his sport. In fact, users are warned that it can cause sleepiness, uncoordination and decreased alertness, and the maker cautions against driving or doing anything that requires you be particularly sharp. It almost sounds like the warnings for watching curling.

This is the least exciting drug scandal since Rebagliati tested positive for weed. Indeed, the “sexy notoriety quotient” here is positively sleep-inducing.

It appears that Ikonen’s personal doctor (who had been provided with a list of banned substances) prescribed this particular drug not realizing it was on that list, and that he’s been on the drug for years without realizing it could jeopardize his athletic career.

This can happen for a number of innocent reasons, for example because of the wide variety of names by which drugs are known. Prozac is a name we all know, but the same chemical is also known as fluoxetine, Rapiflux, Sarafem, and Selfemra. The list says one thing, the doctor’s notepad says another, he forgets one of the aliases … it’s easy. It’s hypothetical that this is how it happened, but this drug is not something likely to improve his game (quite the opposite, actually; curling is about as thrilling as Swiffering a shuffleboard court in slow-mo, in freezing cold). There is no reason for someone who wants Sweden to win to prescribe him this; now, if his doctor is Korean, we might have a controversy!

My mother was in medical records for her entire career, so I do know what I’m talking about here. A decent computer system at the pharmacy or the doctor’s could have caught the error IF it happened to have the list of banned substances in its database and also happened to know that this man was a Paralympic athlete whose prescriptions had to be checked against the list.

Ah, but there’s a rub (there always is). It seems he, himself, did not bother to check that the prescriptions he was getting were not on the banned list. So it might come down to passive responsibility, rather than active rulebreaking or some perfect storm of bad juju.

“He did not try hide it. He had not checked to see if it was a banned substance,” added Hans Safstrom, Sweden’s Chef de Mission.

Ikonen added:

“Before I left Sweden I told my doctor I didn’t want to take anything that would not be approved. Of course I’m disappointed that he didn’t know. I trusted my doctor. I would never take anything that I thought was illegal for sports.”

Hans Safstrom, the Chef de Mission for the Swedish team said he totally believes Ikonen’s explanation that the incident was a misunderstanding on the part of the athlete.

Swedish team requested a review of the 2-year suspension which was handed down Friday, and the hearing began yesterday. Ikonen was thus prevented from participating in Sweden’s semifinal and today’s final match for the bronze against the US (which they won).

He will be 56 the next time he can compete in a sanctioned match, and 58 at the next Paralympic Games. Will he be able to compete by then? After all, this whole sad scandal happened because the man was just taking his blood pressure pills. Bitter medicine indeed.

(thanks to Vantwisitor, eternalcanadian, Bruce Fraser, Cathy Browne and Ilus Elu for tips)

Comments

One T/S Member Comment Called Out, 3 Total Comments
Post your comment »
 
  1. collapse expand

    So he’s truly a confirmed stoner both ways, eh?

  2. collapse expand

    Yes, unfortunately for him. You’d think if there was ONE place you could get away with that, it’d be Vancouver!

Log in for notification options
Comments RSS

Post Your Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment

Log in with your True/Slant account.

Previously logged in with Facebook?

Create an account to join True/Slant now.

Facebook users:
Create T/S account with Facebook
 

My T/S Activity Feed

 
     

    About Me

    Let's face it: nobody knows who Vancouver blogger "Lorraine Murphy" is. My more famous alter ego, "raincoaster," is the one who writes this column while I am asleep.

    I will doubtless attempt to use this as a defense in court at some point.

    See my profile »
    Followers: 15
    Contributor Since: November 2009
    Location:Vangroover

    What I'm Up To

    • raincoaster at raincoaster

      raincoaster icon

      The ol’ raincoaster blog: tales from the Downtown Eastside of Vangroover and the Dark Side of the Loon. Operation Global Media Domination HQ.

       
    • Lolebrity

      mai archaic telecommunications medium let me show u itLolebrity blog: mai lak of dignitty: let me show u it

       
    • Ayyyy!

      Ayyyy, Daphne Guinness is a sight!

      Ayyyy is fashion plus celebrities plus punchlines.

      Gently making fun of the famous and infamous.

       
    • raincoaster media

      raincoaster media limitedraincoaster media specializes in social media for social good. We offer regular classes for beginners and intermediates and support the arts and community by sharing the best in Vancouver social media and nonprofit events.

       
    • The Shebeen Club

      The Shebeen ClubThe Shebeen Club is a group for Vangroover’s practicing Literati. Practice makes perfect, right?

      It is NOT: a hand-holding support group featuring aromatherapy-enhanced, tearful rounds of “Kumbyah,” an open mic night (I’ve suffered at the hands of too many bad live performances), a boring old lecture series, or a critique group.

       
    .<
    • +O
    • +O
    • +O
    • +O
    • +O
    >.