What is a Doping Violation?

The presence of cheating in sport is ubiquitous, as is doping specifically, and kettlebell sport is no different in that regard.  Whenever prestige, money, or professional opportunity is on the line in competitive settings, there is most certainly reason to use performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).  For clarity, “doping” describes the behaviour by which an athlete enhances their performance, outside the rules of their sport, usually by pharmacological means.  The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defines “doping” somewhat more broadly as “the occurrence of one or more of the antidoping rule violations set forth in…. the Code” (p.19, 2021 WADA Code).

The Code specifies numerous circumstances that could be classified as anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs), including “whereabouts failures” just like the kind that landed acclaimed Canadian Olympic multi-medalist Penny Oleksiak with a 2-year suspension.  The 25-year old accepted a 2-year ban from WADA due to three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period. Athletes in registered testing pools must provide their National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) with daily 60-minute windows for testing, 90-days in advance.  If not, NADOs are advised by the WADA Code to “have serious and specific suspicion that the Athlete may be engaged in doping” (p.41, 2021 WADA Code).

Penny Oleksiak

A History of Doping

While Oleksiak’s case is unfortunate, it is not what most people think of when they picture doping violations.  Most people might think of Lance Armstrong, who was part of one of the most elaborate doping conspiracies in sport, and subsequently stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.  Others might recall the 2014 Russian doping scandal that resulted in a 4-year ban against Russia from the Olympics, following Sochi 2014.  A in-depth report on the scandal claimed, with strong evidence, that Russia’s Ministry of Sport and the Federal Security Service (FSB) orchestrated a covert, state-sponsored doping program.

“you can bet it happens”

Russia is never far from the conversation which surrounds doping in sport.  Valery Fedorenko, a prolific kettlebell sport pioneer from Kyrgyzstan who fled the USSR to bring kettlebell sport to North America, described the Soviet Sport system as “corrupt” and full of “secrecy”.  On the question of whether or not kettlebell lifters use PEDs, coach and educator Eric Liford from the World Kettlebell Club said “you can bet it happens”.

Valery Fedorenko

It does happen.  It happened at the Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan in May 2025.  According to TASS News Agency (Russia), Poland’s Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA) suspended Russian junior lifter Alena Landina, 19, for 2-years following a positive test for the banned substance furosemide.  According to TASS, Landina competed in the Asian Kettlebell Lifting Championships and Junior Championships which ran from May 14 to 19. Landina took first place in her weight class (68+ kilograms) in 24-kilogram longcycle (clean and jerk), the classic jerk, overall rankings, and the relay.

Alena Landina, 15 years old, 2x Moscow lifting champion, 41 reps in 24-kg two-arm longcycle (2022)

(The Dangers of) Diuretics and Masking Agents

Furosemide falls into the class of banned substances known as “diuretics and masking agents”. In doping practices, diuretics are used to obscure the presence of banned substances (PEDs) in test samples. Diuretics act on the kidneys to increase the rate of urination, which can adjust the volume and composition of total fluids in the body.  By increasing urination volume, it is believed that this will dilute the urine enough to “mask” the presence of PEDs.  The plausibility of this strategy is questionable, however, given the accuracy and sensitivity of modern drug testing.  Diuretics and other masking agents are banned at all times, in- and out-of-competition.  Furosemide is one of the two most highly abused diuretics in sport.

The use of diuretics in sport might be best known for their use in combat sports like judo, wrestling, and boxing where athletes attempt to meet the limits of their respective weight category.  A Brazilian study conducted by Brito et al. (2012) found that about one-third of competitive combat sport athletes use diuretics or laxatives to reduce their bodymass.  Other sports where the use of diuretics is documented include horse racing (jockeys), female basketball, softball, and volleyball, cycling (Pedro Delgardo, 1988), swimming (Chinese swim team, 1998), Nordic skiing (Finnish team, 2001), and even sled-racing (Zach Lund, 2006).

“one-third of competitive combat sport athletes use diuretics”

 

Cycling is known widely for its abuse of the compound erythropoietin (EPO), as it artificially raise hematocrit level (red blood cell count), significantly improving the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.  Oxygen-carrying capacity is of the utmost importance to endurance athletes, including kettlebell lifters, and a higher percentage of red blood cells means more hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the iron-rich protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body’s tissues and brings carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled, essentially powering your cells and giving you energy.  Pedro Delgardo tested positive for Probenecid, a masking agent known as a plasma volume expander (PVE). PVE’s can be used to to disguise elevated red blood cells by elevating the plasma level of the blood. Before a validated test for EPO was introduced in 2000, evidence for EPO use relied on testing hematocrit levels.

Bodybuilders use them to counter the water-retaining properties of anabolic steroids, helping them to achieve a “dry” or “cut” look for the stage.  Andreas Munzer, a competitive bodybuilder, was known for being extremely lean year-round.  His premature death at only 31 years of age was likely related to his rumoured, heavy use of diuretics.  The non-clinical abuse of diuretics is a major cause for concern because severe dehydration can contribute to a heart attack by thickening the blood, increasing clot risk, straining the heart, and causing electrolyte imbalances that disrupt heart rhythm, especially in vulnerable individuals.  Many vulnerable individuals won’t know they are vulnerable until it is too late.

Andreas Munzer

Diuretics in Kettlebell Sport

So why did Landina, a junior-level kettlebell lifter, test positive for furosemide?  There are a couple of possibilities:

1. 1. 1. Landina was attempting to meet the limits of her weight class
      2. Landina was attempting to mask the presence of a PED

Let’s discuss the likelihood of both scenarios.  Landina competed in the 68+ weight category, which is the heavyweight category that has no upper limit.  If Landina’s typical bodyweight floats just above 68-kilograms, then that would place her at the bottom of an unlimited weight category, which is a huge disadvantage in weightlifting sports.  If this were the case, Landina should therefore attempt to lose weight to enter the category below (68-kilograms).  Do we know Landina’s typical bodyweight?  While I do not have the weigh-in data from the Asian Championships in question, at the 37th Moscow Student Games held from April 26-27, 2025, Landina weighed in at 77.2 kilograms, a vast 9.2-kilograms (~20 pounds) above the 68-kilogram limit.  Out of eight other lifters in her age group for jerk, she was the 4th heaviest athlete, placing her in the center of the heavyweight field.  Therefore, assuming she did not suddenly lose another 10-15 pounds before the Asian championships, I find the plausibility of her using furosemide to attempt to enter the 68-kilogram category extremely unlikely.

Was furosemide instead used to mask the use of other performance enhancing drugs?  Let’s propose the following questions:

1. 1. 1. At what level does the athlete compete, and how elite is that level?
      2. How did the athlete place in competition?
      3. How far ahead of the rest of the field did this athlete perform?
      4. Are there any other factors that might raise suspicion, such as previous misconduct by the athlete, their coach, or their team?

Here’s what we know about Landina:

1. 1. 1. She is a 19 year old competing at the elite-level of kettlebell sport, 24-kilogram kettlebells.
      2. She took first place in 24-kilogram longcycle (clean and jerk), the classic jerk, overall rankings, and the relay at the 2025 Asian Championships.
      3. She was the only 24-kg (elite) lifter in her division at the Moscow Student Games, where she performed 130 jerks with two 24-kilogram kettlebells.
      4. She is a member of the Russian Federation, whose administration was implicated in state-sponsored doping.

While we may never know the true reason Landina had Furosemide in her system, it was present, nonetheless. As a consequence, Landina was banned for the presence of a masking agent in her urine, which is a clear violation of the WADA Code.  Therefore, given WADA’s “strict liability” clause (i.e. athletes are guilty until they may prove themselves innocent) the reason for its use is not only speculative, but irrelevant.

Testing, The Good, The Bad

This news story is only one data point in the history of doping in kettlebell sport.  If doping is a problem in kettlebell sport, where are all the bodies, so to speak?  Looking back through WADA documentation we can find some clues as to the prevalence of doping in kettlebell sport.  In 2022, out of a dismal 79 total samples, there were 4 adverse analytical findings (AAFs).  AAFs are wonky test results that must undergo further testing to indicate a doping violation has occurred.  Upon subsequent testing, the 4 AAFs were verified as ADRVs, a 5% positive test rate, which is typical for WADA findings.  The effectiveness of WADA testing has been contested by numerous sources, and it is believed by many interested stakeholders that the actual prevalence of doping far exceeds what WADA testing can identify.  You can read more about WADA and the problems with accurately estimating the prevalence of doping HERE.

“what is truly troubling is how in 2024, out of 54 total samples, not a single sample was flagged”

As you can see from this chart, the total amount of tests performed by the International Union of Kettlebell Lifting (IUKL) has ebbed and flowed chaotically across the past decade, with positive results ranging from about 1% to 5% of samples analyzed in a given year.  It is concerning and confusing that in some years the IUKL performs no drug testing whatsoever (as reported by WADA), but what is truly troubling is how in 2024, out of 54 total samples, not a single sample was flagged.  If there is one thing we know, it is that drug testing struggles to keep up with advances in doping.  Taking everything we know about athlete psychology, doping behaviour, and supplement contamination, I find the implication that every single athlete tested in 2024 was clean to be utterly implausible.

Do you agree, or disagree?  Comment below.

Solly is the head coach of the Nanaimo Kettlebell Club and has been training clients for over 15 years. He has twice been on Team Canada as both an athlete and coach, and has continues to operate the longest running kettlebell sport event in Canada.