By Rokur Jakupsstovu, Swimming World Scandinavian Correspondent
HERNING, Denmark, May 13. WHILE many in the Russian swimming community found relief that Yuliya Efimova’s doping ban will end in time for her to make a run at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, not everyone in Europe is totally happy about the situation.
Rikke Moller Pedersen of Denmark, who now officially stands as the European Short Course Champion in the 200-meter breast at her home nation meet in Herning, is not all that enthusiastic about the outcome.
“It has been hard, that this experience was taken from me,” Pedersen told DR Sporten. “I could have stood in front of my home crowd and sung along to our national anthem, and I cannot get that back. That I get a gold medal now is not the same.
Earlier today, Efimova received a retroactive 16-month ban for a positive doping test of the banned substance 7-keto DHEA. The Russian swimmer admitted that she purchased and consumed a dietary supplement with the banned substance in it, but claimed she only used it for a week, and was not aware that 7-keto DHEA was part of the product.
“As it is, I’m not mad at her,” Pedersen told DR Sporten. “But I am disappointed that she has happened to take something forbidden. It is not okay to cheat, and if she has been aware of it, I think there are a lot of other ways to improve yourself than to go in that direction.”
Denmark also became the European champion in the 200 medley relay, with Pedersen also moving up to silver in the 100-meter breast behind Ruta Meilutyte.
“It is a bit of a mess, as there are many medals that need to be sent back and forth,” Pedersen told DR Sporten. “But I do know that several of the other girls on the relay are quite content to move up in the placement.”
The relay also included Pernille Blume, Jeanette Ottesen and Mie O. Nielsen.
Read dr.dk (in Danish)