Kazakh weightlifter Vladimir Sedov died on Tuesday at the age of 35 years. He was found dead in a house located in the village of Dostyk in the southeast of the country. The police media said that there were no external signs of a violent death on the body. According to the testimony of relatives, the man committed suicide. The investigating authorities launched a pre-trial investigation under the article «Incitement to suicide».
Sedov in 2009 became the world champion. A year earlier, he placed fourth at the Beijing Olympics. The athlete took the gold of the championship of Kazakhstan four times. However, in 2016, after rechecking doping samples taken at the 2008 Olympics, he was convicted of using the anabolic steroid stanozolol. The weightlifter was disqualified for eight years and canceled all results for this period of time.
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“I was traveling in the morning on business, but when they told me about it, I instantly forgot where I was going,” said Anvar Akhmerov, a coach from Kazakhstan, who has been working in Russia in recent years. “It’s very unfortunate that this happened. I knew Volodya for ten years. He was a very ambitious and hardworking guy, in order to achieve his goals he was ready to train three or four times a day. And if some guys, let's say, worked at 80%, then he is at 100%. A scrupulous person and honed every detail in training. He was just an ideal athlete, he can be set as an example for more than one world champion.
The coach believes that WADA has arranged a hunt for weightlifters from the countries of the former CIS, this broke the fate of many. Akhmerov spoke about the possible reasons for the tragic outcome:
“Volodya was a good guy with a real champion character. Maybe he couldn’t cope psychologically with some problems that arose after the sport. He couldn’t stand it. After all, he won the world championship yesterday. it turned out that a great athlete with weightlifting did not finish of his own free will. Physically strong and worth ten.»
What is stanozolol? The drug that ruined Sedov's career is an anabolic steroid, completely banned in sports. At the same time, it contributes more to the appearance of the relief of the main muscle group, and not to the recruitment of muscle mass.
This type of doping previously came across such athletes as Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, boxer James Toney, bodybuilder Sean Ray.
There are cases when stanozolol was used as doping for racehorses.
«A worthy man»The titled Russian weightlifter David Bedzhanyan learned the sad news about Sedov's death from a correspondent. «, — said the two-time European champion. — We often talked at international competitions, we had warm and good relations. Most recently we corresponded on social networks. «
- “Volodya was a normal and sane guy, without any dislocations in his head,” Bedzhanyan added. “Possible suicide… I can’t believe it doubly, because he has a family and a child.
The news also upset the head coach of the Russian women's weightlifting team Gennady Anikanov.
“Vladimir was an extraordinary person, a record holder and world champion,” the specialist emphasized. “A worthy athlete who deserves great attention. Maybe he didn’t have the right data for our sport. However, he was able to achieve such high achievements. And this means that the person had a champion character».
A consequence of depression? Departure of Sedov struck many. Athletes and coaches who knew him are shocked by what happened and hardly believe in the suicide version.
Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that one of the side effects of the use of stanozolol, as experts say, can be progressive depression. However, this theory is hard to believe. A more plausible option is when a sports star, due to disqualification, suddenly finds himself out of work and cannot find himself in other areas.
“I knew Vladimir Sedov as a good weightlifter and did not notice any character traits in him that could lead to such a departure from life as they write about,” summed up the former head coach of the Russian men's weightlifting team Oleg Pisarevsky. He was a normal and hardworking guy, a representative of a very good Kazakh school of weightlifting, he lifted heavy weights.»
The well-known Kazakhstani weightlifter, repeated world and Asian Games champion Ilya Ilyin expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased.
«Unfortunately, in recent we didn’t keep in touch for years. My friends sometimes called him, everything seemed to be fine. It’s a pity that it happened. Personal problems arise from disappointment. I know Vladimir’s story, he had problems. The boy died, he left young. I I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family, relatives, friends, all of Kazakhstan and the world community of athletes. Guys, take care of each other. Yes, it’s hard for all of us now, but we need to be more attentive to our loved ones,» Tengri Sport quoted the weightlifter as saying.< br>P. S. In 2021, promising Kazakh weightlifter Albert Linder committed suicide at the age of 25. In 2017, he was the winner of the Asian Championship and the Universiade.