Disclaimer: This article is meant to be educational, any sources used can be found at the end.
Sha’Carri Richardson is a 21-year-old American track-and-field athlete who normally competes in the 100-meter-dash and 200-meter-dash events. She was deemed the 6th fastest woman of all time, 4th fastest American woman in 2021 after running a personal best of 10.72 seconds. This past summer, Sha’Charri participated in the Olympic Trials and with a time of 10.86, qualified for the summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, her trial was deemed invalid due to a positive cannabis drug test. She was given one-month ineligibility and was unable to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
Kamila Valieva is a 15-year-old Russian figure skater who was about to win Russia their third straight gold medal. Before competing in the Beijing Olympics, Kamila tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication used for the prevention of chest pain and dizziness. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned the medication because of its aid in endurance and blood flow. As of yet, they have not disqualified Kamila or invalidated her results (2).
Let’s dive a little deeper into both of these substances, starting with cannabis. According to an article published on PubMed.gov by J.F. Burr, C.P. Cheung, et al., (4) they state “while investigations of whole cannabis and THC have generally shown either null or detrimental effects on exercise performance in strength and aerobic-type activities, studies of sufficient rigor and validity to conclusively declare ergogenic or ergolytic potential in athletes are lacking.” Let’s break this statement down. An ergogenic aid for performance is normally used in order to increase an athlete’s energy, performance, and recovery. Common ergogenic aids are caffeine (energy drinks, coffee), creatine, and protein powders. Ergolytic is a term that is pretty much the opposite of ergogenic. According to E.R. Eichner (3), ergolytic drugs impair the functions of exercise capacity or performance. Some of these drugs are alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, etc.
Now, you would assume that an athlete would not want to use marijuana before an event, due to the fact that it could possibly be detrimental to their performance. As marijuana becomes more well-known and more states are fighting to decriminalize and fully legalize it, more studies are coming out to test the pros and cons. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), cannabis helps treat vomiting and nausea caused by cancer chemotherapy (however, their website does state the lack of information to determine the correlation between smoking marijuana and other respiratory cancers). The CDC states that using marijuana before the age of 18 can have negative effects on how the brain builds connections (memory, attention) (Reminder: Sha’Carri is 21). They also state that cannabis makes the heart beat faster (essentially, it works harder) and increases a person’s risk of stroke and vascular diseases (1). I could go on and on about the different ways cannabis can affect the body, good or bad. Relieves pain, but could cause cancer (who knows). Relaxes you, but affects brain development. Even if a drug is ergolytic (impairs functions during exercise and performance), I can see why it would be considered prohibited for major events such as the Olympics and the Olympic Trials.
Now, let’s move on to trimetazidine. A study published on PubMed.gov by A.S. Sisakian, A.L. Torgomian, and A.L. Barkhudarian (5) in simple terms determined that this medication “increases physical exercise tolerance.” Another study done by multiple scientists (6) tested the drug on mice and discovered that with exercise and no drug, their swim time was around 39.10 +/- 12.58 minutes for exhaustive (total fatigue). With exercise and the drug, their swim time went up to 73.79 +/- 18.95 minutes. Basically, trimetazidine gives the athlete taking it better endurance.
Now that there is all that information out on display, most people can understand why Sha’Carri was upset upon hearing the news that Kamila would not be suspended, disqualified, or anything of the sort. Considering another athlete, Nadezhda Sergeeva tested positive for the same drug 2 days prior to her bobsledding race in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and was not allowed to participate and received an 8-month ban.
I hope this sheds a light on the current situation and equipped you with more knowledge about it!