Ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, the Russian used anabolic steroids to improve his performance. He admits that in a Facebook post, according to the Russian news agency Tass.
The 36-year-old says that he used the drugs turinabol and oxandrolone and that he immediately noticed an effect, but that he did not feel any good.
– Before I used doping, I threw 79 metres. Doping helped me improve my results by two meters, he writes, before explaining that even though his technique was worse, the sledgehammer went further. Everything he had worked for technically thus felt in vain.
– It felt wrong, admits the Russian.
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– Made no sense
Despite the doping, Litvinov was unable to qualify for the Olympics in 2012, and he says that he stopped doping.
– After that I didn’t dope anymore. My motivation was to get better and to improve in a difficult, technical exercise. I was interested in training, technique and the mental aspect. To improve without working on this, but through doping made no sense, writes Litvinov.
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In 2014, he got results from his training and won, among other things, bronze during the European Championships in Zurich.
Criticized Russia
The Russian, who has also represented Belarus and Germany in the athletics arena, has previously come out strongly against Russian doping. At the time, he still chose to leave out his own doping history.
– When the Russian doping scandal was rolled out, I did my best to improve the situation in my country. I created an anti-doping environment and employed those who investigated the scandal. But I did not reveal my own sins, writes the 36-year-old.
He says that he felt pressured to dope by the Russian regime, but that the decision was ultimately his own.
Now he regrets it all.
