Doping Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Darya Pishchalnikova
Osaka07 D5A Dietzsch Pishtshalnikova
Sport Track and Field
Events Discus
Drug of choice Oxandrolone
Doping Sentence 10 years
Current Status Banned by Russian Athletics Federation
Personal Information
Birthdate 19 July 1985
Height 1.89m
Weight 95g
Country Russia
Hometown Astrakhan

Darya Pishchalnikova is a Russian discus thrower who has had a long history of difficulties with doping. Despite a promising start in her sport — she was a top finisher in several World Junior Championships in the early 2000s, and she won the European Championships in 2006 — she fell into doping trouble as the 2008 Olympics loomed.

She was pulled by the Russian Athletics Federation in the last days before the Beijing Games began, because of irregularities with her drugs testing. She received a two-year ban in late July 2008 for manipulating her test. Contemporaneous observers held her as a prohibitive favorite for the gold in Beijing, and her pre-event disqualification considerably opened up the field.

After serving her ban, she returned to discus throwing, and competed at least once legally — in 2011's World Championships, she placed eleventh.

She actually competed in the 2012 Olympics in London, and won a silver medal. However, that medal was stripped when it was discovered that there was oxandrolone in her bloodstream. The Russians took a dimmer view of this transgression than her earlier one, and banned her for ten years, effectively ending her career.

Advertisement