Tag Archives: Profits

Dope: Nigeria Profits As Russia Loses Beijing Relay Gold

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Russia was stripped of a relay gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Tuesday night, after one of its female runners tested positive for steroids in a reanalysis of her doping samples.

Sprinter Yulia Chermoshanskaya tested positive for two drugs — stanozolol and turinabol — and has been retroactively disqualified and, along with her teammates, stripped of the gold medal in the women’s 4×100-meter relay, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

Chermoshanskaya was also disqualified from the 200 meters, in which she finished eighth.
Belgium stands to be upgraded to the relay gold, with Nigeria moving up to silver and Brazil to bronze.

The IOC asked the IAAF to modify the results and consider any further sanctions against Chermoshanskaya, who is no longer competing.

The three other Russians runners in the relay final were Yulia Gushchina, Alexandra Fedoriva and Evgeniya Polyakova. Under IAAF rules, an entire relay team loses its medals if one of the runners tests positive.

The Belgian runners in line to get gold are Olivia Borlee, Hanna Marien, Elodie Ouedraogo and Kim Gevaert.

The United States did not make the relay final after dropping the baton in the heats. The Jamaican and British teams dropped the baton in the final.
The IOC said Chermoshanskaya claimed in a written statement that she had been injured ahead of the Beijing Games and had been receiving injections on medical advice. The IOC said she should have declared those medications at the time.

Turinabol and stanozolol are traditional steroids that go back decades. Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for stanozolol at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and he was stripped of the gold medal in the 100 meters.

Tuesday’s decision was another black eye for Russia. The country’s track and field team was banned from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics over allegations of state-sponsored doping. Investigations are continuing into wider systematic doping in Russia involving dozens of other summer and winter Olympic sports.

Using enhanced techniques, the IOC has retested more than 1,000 doping samples from the 2008 Beijing Games and 2012 London Olympics to catch those who evaded detection at the time. A total of 98 athletes have been caught.

Read More: ThisDayLive

Marketers Accused Of Raking In Profits Selling Aviation Fuel As Kerosene

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As the price of kerosene continues to soar because of inadequate supply, marketers have been accused of selling Jet A1, better known as aviation fuel, as kerosene, in the process making a kill of N50-N100 per litre.
The diversion of the product to fuel outlets where it is sold as household kerosene has also been blamed for the scarcity of Jet A1 and several flight cancellations and delays in the aviation sector in the last one month, according to reports..
Kerosene and jet fuel are nearly identical in every way except for a few additives in modern jet fuel, with industry experts describing the latter as nothing other than cleaner kerosene with no sulphur content.
However, the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country has made it very difficult for oil marketers to import and supply petroleum products that would sufficiently meet the needs of consumers.
As such, several marketers have started diverting Jet A1 to fuel outlets where it is sold as kerosene at a higher price than aviation fuel.
Aviation fuel sells for between N198 and N200 in Lagos while kerosene goes for N200 to N300 per litre.
Investigations revealed that marketers now prefer to sell Jet A1 as kerosene after degrading it and that explains the scarcity of aviation fuel in the past one month, leading to flight cancellations and delays.
Informed sources confirmed that aviation fuel is highly refined kerosene with zero sulphur, which when used for cooking leaves the pot without soot.
But instead of importing kerosene, oil marketers import aviation fuel because almost all modern refineries in the world no longer refine kerosene owing to the low demand for the product as a heating oil in several countries.
However, Nigeria’s refineries, which were built between the 1960s and 1980s still produce kerosene and unlike refining plants in other parts of the world, the Nigerian plants have not been upgraded to refine only diesel, petrol and Jet A1.
A seasoned aeronautical engineer and pilot, who operates a non-scheduled flight out of Lagos, said at the weekend that the current scarcity of aviation fuel would persist until marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) begin to import sufficient kerosene to meet consumers’ demands.
The source said that every jet engine can use kerosene, but Jet A1 is of higher quality because it has no sulphur.
Credit: Thisday