Acquitted. It wasn’t doping. The Alex Schwazer case reopens. The judgment of the Court of Bolzano is destined to cause a sensation. For now it is limited – and it is no small thing – to rewrite a story that “stank” of mysteries and gray areas from the beginning. Filed the criminal proceedings against the blue walker “For not having committed the deed.”
The Bolzano judge, Walter Pelino, did not spare the accusations a Wada e Iaff, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Athletics Federation respectively.
“They operated in a totally self-referential manner, not tolerating external controls to the point of producing false statements”. Translated: Schwazer was the victim of a conspiracy. There was one handling of test tubes, as Schwazer himself has always maintained, since the beginning of this story.
You will remember: the walker from Vipiteno, Olympic champion of the 50 km in Beijing 2008, – in 2016 – on the eve of the Rio Olympics – was disqualified for doping, testing positive for testosterone. And he gets eight years of disqualification. It is a very hard blow for an athlete who in Beijing – arriving at the finish line of the march in tears – had conquered the Italians.
In 2012 Schwazer had already been found positive at the Epo: two-year sentence, the blue settles, reduction to nine months of disqualification. Run again, but life derails. The engagement with Carolina Kostner, queen of Italian skating, has long since closed; Alex – by his own admission – is a victim of depression.
A first turning point comes when in 2015 Schwazer relies on Sandro Donati, a coach universally recognized as a champion of the fight against doping. A long battle in the courts also begins at that point. Alex intends to race at the Rio 2016 Games, but a surprise doping control turns his life upside down. Positive again, disqualification as mentioned for eight years. But it is a nebulous affair, Schwazer and Donati profess to be innocent, justice follows its course. With many dark spots. Suffice it to say that the test tubes of the offending control remained from 2 January 2016 until February 2018 – almost two years – in the anti-doping laboratory in Cologne, without the Italian authorities being able to take them.
Today’s ruling by the Court of Bolzano overturns everything. There is a story to (re) write. Thanks to the acquittal, Schwazer will be able to apply to the Swiss Federal Court to cancel the disqualification until 2024 imposed by the Tas of Lausanne. The chances of making it are real. Everything is still at stake. Certainly from a sporting point of view – even if Schwazer will still not be able to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics slipped due to pandemic in the summer of 2021 – but above all from a human point of view. At 36, Schwazer, who got married and fathered a girl, never stopped training, up the mountains of Racines, in Trentino, where he lives. He says he is in shape, like when he won in Beijing. Make sure you still have a dream. Go back to running.
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