Sigi's top picks | Long ban even without doping

That was a bad move. One could put it bluntly. Not doping, yet banned. For a whopping 20 months. For top athletes, this is more than just a forced break. It can also mean the end of a career. That it also amounts to a professional ban is a different story and should be examined more closely. Unless the sentence changes, Madeleine Egle (27) from Tyrol will not be able to participate in next year's Olympic Games, practically on her doorstep, at the new facility in Cortina.

Let me briefly outline the facts. She missed three doping tests. On three occasions, she was absent or hadn't provided precise information about her whereabouts. In one case, the most recent, she had entered her address in the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System) reporting system during a team trip to the USA, but had forgotten her apartment number. When she tried to add it, she said, the internet didn't work.

Egle celebrated numerous successes in her career. © dpa / Martin Schutt

Now she's fallen off the sled, or rather, completely shocked. The offenses occurred in 2023. The fact that the punishment is only now being announced, after the proceedings dragged on for 20 months (coincidentally, the length of her ban), is particularly tragic given the timing of the Olympic competitions next February.

Three missed tests equals doping Legally speaking, this may be within reason, because according to the Anti-Doping Code, three missed tests within twelve months constitute a doping offense. And the usual and convenient reaction initially arises: There must be something to it if she wasn't where she should be three times. But does life count for nothing up to that point? All of her proper doping tests to date have been negative. She has never been a problem. At most, as an athlete, having won one bronze and one silver in the team event for Austria at two Olympic Games. She is one of the best lugers in the world, was European champion, and won 14 World Cup races. And yes, I am happy to make a plea in her favor, because in my opinion the proportionality of the punishment is completely excessive.

Madeleine Egle is one of the best lugers in the world. © dpa / Martin Schutt

Of course, you have to pay for mistakes. Somehow. We know that from our own lives, even if some punishments have been unjust in the past. But one should take a closer look, as one should always do with those accused, because Egle also clearly explained how her mishap came about. And we, the observers at the edge of the ice chutes, should also consider her special situation. What it would be like if, for example, we had to declare every day—I emphasize, every day that God has given us—what we're planning and where.

A sudden trip to the cinema is out of the question if we've already stated in the morning that we're at home in front of the TV. A walk scheduled at short notice is also out of the question. We should have planned that in the morning. Freedom looks different. It would annoy me, and besides, I'd be subjected to constant scrutiny. But that's only one side of the story. The other is comparisons. Athletes who have been proven to have doped, or of course, female athletes too, get off with shorter suspensions even though banned substances were found in their samples.

Egle has no lobby Even if some people don't want to hear it anymore: Jannik Sinner tested positive twice in one week. The suspension, negotiated with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA): three months, which was also served during a period in which no important or major tournaments were taking place. Sinner has credibly demonstrated that he was not at fault. His masseur had administered the ointment containing the banned substance clostebol to his body. All good. In case of doubt, for the accused. Equal rights for all? Among equals, there are also those who are more equal. More important. For their sport, for example.

Sinner is number one. In tennis. Madeleine Egle is merely an artificial track luger. She participates in a fringe sport. Whether she's on her sled or not is something only insiders notice. Ratings don't change with her. With Sinner, of course, it's different. After the Federer-Nadal era, the South Tyrolean is more important than ever for his sport, which may have also influenced his sentence. His professional associations certainly supported him. His doping findings have long been casually overlooked.

Madeleine Egle, on the other hand, who has proven she has never taken any banned substances, finds her career in ruins because she has no lobby to help when verdicts are handed down. This includes outside of sports jurisdiction, which will be called into question at some point anyway. I hope Egle receives legal assistance and that the Austrian Luge Federation takes her on board and doesn't just verbally protest against the verdict, which is simply disproportionately high, considering many other real doping cases.

A retroactive suspension for Madeleine Egle, for example, six months from June 1, 2025, would be a justifiable punishment, and it wouldn't call into question the reporting system. However, the benefit of the doubt cannot be applied in this case. Her guilt has been proven and is not being denied. But is it so great, so terrible, that Madeleine Egle should be deprived of her purpose in life?

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including the winner of the German Television Award, the Bavarian Sports Award, and a nominee for the prestigious Grimme Prize), a trained sports teacher, author, longtime sports editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and a commentator for Eurosport since 1989, devotes his weekly column to the entire spectrum of sports and enjoys exploring unfamiliar territory. Sometimes with a smile, sometimes thoughtfully, or even deliberately provocatively. There should be something for everyone.

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Sigi's top picks | Long ban even without doping

Our columnist Sigi Heinrich considers a 20-month ban for artificial track luger Madeleine Egle from Austria due to three missed doping tests to be disproportionately high compared to many other cases in which real substances were detected.

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