The Schwazer conspiracy: chronology of a sports crime thriller

2012 Shortly before the Olympic Games The bomb explodes in London: Alex Schwazer has tested positive for Epo. Kalcher, then 27, confessed immediately and was banned for 3 years and 9 months.

Schwazer is serving his suspension, but at the same time is making plans for a comeback. The goal: The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. At this time, the man from Wipptal often had to go to court and come clean about doping. Schwazer said at the time: “That was a difficult time for me. It is no pleasure to have to go to court and to the anti-doping tribunal repeatedly. I said what I knew and got people in trouble, and I would do it that way again.” 2016 January 1, 2016: Alex Schwazer gives the urine sample. From the location information in the accompanying form it is easy to determine who the sample came from, so it is not anonymous. A few days later, the sample is tested for doping substances in the laboratory in Cologne, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Authority WADA - the result is negative.

Im June Then the big bang: During a follow-up test in April at the request of the World Athletics Association (IAAF), a small amount of synthetic testosterone was found. The Bolzano public prosecutor's office is launching an investigation against Schwazer. He himself emphasized from the start that he did not dope.

Schwazer in Rio: His efforts were in vain. © os

Schwazer is suspended, but is doing everything he can to stay August to be there at the Olympic Games in Rio. He travels to Brazil, trains there, but a few days before the competition there is the final knockout blow: at an eight-hour hearing before three judges from the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Wipptaler is not acquitted, but banned for 3 years.

Im September The urine sample is confiscated in the Cologne laboratory. She will then be examined by the forensic experts from the RIS (reparto investigazioni scientifiche) of the Carabinieri in Parma. But getting there is a legal hurdle. The World Athletics Association (IAAF) has objected to the transfer, and WADA has also expressed concerns. 2017 Only in the July 2017 The Cologne Higher Regional Court decides after a long tug of war - in accordance with the IAAF application: Only 10 milliliters of urine from the A doping sample should be sent to the RIS. The B sample should not be released.

Im October The persistence of the Schwazer clan finally pays off: Cologne finally releases the B sample - but only 6 milliliters of it. But the hiccup is far from over. 2018 Im February 2018 RIS chief investigator Colonel Giampietro Lago and lawyer Gerhard Brandstätter appear at the Cologne laboratory and cannot believe their eyes: Colonel Lago is handed a plastic tube in which - as they say - the rest of the B sample is located. Lago refuses to accept the tube, Brandstätter threatens to file a criminal complaint if the court's order requiring all parties to be present when the sample is taken from the container is not properly implemented. Finally it works and the rehearsals travel to Parma. 10 days later, the RIS experts begin the analysis.

In 2008 Schwazer won Olympic gold in China. © AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI

Already in July There are increasing suspicions that there could have been manipulation: As the forensic experts were able to determine, the DNA concentration in the A sample and B sample, which were taken on the same day, differs significantly from one another and is unusually high.

Im September At the request of the defense, U.S. judge Walter Pelino ordered an in-depth review of the report during the evidence preservation process. On the same day, lawyer Brandstätter presented emails that explicitly spoke of a “plot against AS”. High-ranking IAAF representatives appear to be the sender and recipient. Brandstätter makes a petition against unknown persons. 2019 Im September 2019 In the course of the investigation, possible manipulation is mentioned in court for the first time: Colonel Giampietro Lago presents his investigations and comes to the conclusion that Schwazer's DNA in the sample has an anomaly. In his opinion, there could only be four explanations for this: That Schwazer had doped - for which there was just as little evidence as for the possibility that the values were due to an illness of the athlete. Stress and hard training could possibly have had an influence - and if not, then the only option left was manipulation. Judge Walter Pelino orders further investigations.

This partial success in court inspires Schwazer, who Mid November starts training again under the direction of his long-time trainer Sandro Donati. 2020 With the new findings, Schwazer is trying to take action at the Swiss Federal Court against the eight-year ban imposed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. The judgment comes in March 2020 but in conclusion that the appeal cannot be accepted given the current facts.

The corona pandemic is not just delaying investigations. The Olympic Games will also be postponed from 2020 to 2021 – an opportunity for Schwazer? As chief investigator Lago in September 2020 presents his latest findings, the suspicion of manipulation becomes ever more pronounced. Now Judge Walter Pelino has to decide: Will charges be brought against Schwazer or will the proceedings be discontinued? 2021 In December, the public prosecutor's office requested that the criminal proceedings against Alex Schwazer be dropped. Now, 2 months later, Judge Pelino grants this request. “It is considered to be proven with a high degree of credibility that something was altered in Alex Schwazer's urine sample from January 1, 2016 to make it positive in order to disqualify the athlete and discredit both him and his coach Sandro Donati achieve,” Pelino wrote in a court document. Outlook The criminal proceedings against Alex Schwazer have now been discontinued, but the ban remains in effect until 2024. The Olympic champion from Kalch must now take action against this before the International Court of Justice in Lausanne.

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The Schwazer conspiracy: chronology of a sports crime thriller

On New Year's Day 2016 - a rather unusual day for a collection - Alex Schwazer gave the urine sample at home in Kalch, around which a real sports crime thriller has since developed. Now the regional court in Bolzano has ruled: Alex Schwazer was framed. The stages of an almost unbelievable plot.

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