Areg Hovhannisyan: Tigran Martirosyan has to return the medal
“If there is a decision to return the medal and there is no laboratory mistake, it cannot be annulled. So our weightlifter Tigran Martirosyan, with whom prohibited substances were found during Beijing-2008 Olympic Games, certainly has to return the bronze medal,” Professor Areg Hovhannisyan, Head of Anti-doping organization of Armenia, told the correspondent of “A1+”. In reply to our question, whether it isn’t possible to appeal that decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, the experienced specialist said that it also won’t help our weight lifter, “Artificial substances, which are imported from abroad, were found with our athletes. In such cases fighting is meaningless.” In reply to our question, who is responsible for the failure of doping check, Areg Hovhannisyan cited the rules of World Anti-Doping Agency, “2.1 point of WADA rules note that the sportsman is to blame for using doping, as he must be aware of what kind of medicine he is given or injected even when treating teeth. Coach and doctor are also to blame, but the sportsman is always to blame.” Areg Sargsyan notes that we will have no problems with WADA, if all our athletes think like Rio-2016 Olympic Champion Arthur Alexanyan: “If he is prescribed any medication, he consults with us whether he can use them or not. Only with such an approach we can avoid doping scandals,” he summed up.
