PtG Article 20.11.2008

Wife suggests doping doctor stands behind Spanish Olympic success

Cristiana Perez, wife of alleged doping doctor Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, claims that Spain owes much of its gold medal glory at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to the work of her husband.

Cristiana Perez, wife of alleged doping doctor Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, claims that Spain owes much of its gold medal glory at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to the work of her husband.

However, Perez, a former Olympic sprinter at the 1988 Seoul Games, told Spanish newspaper La Provincia that she would refuse to name names, out of loyalty to friends and colleagues, fearing the consequences of her revelations for Spanish Sport.

“It's a Pandora's Box and if opened one day, it could bring down sport,” Perez told La Provincia, reports Agence France Presse.

"But out of respect for my companions, to the people who sacrificed so much, I'm keeping mum although I could speak out and ruin all those caught up in this little world."

Perez’s husband, Dr Fuentes, was at the centre of the Operation Puerto investigation in May 2006, when his laboratories in Rome were raided by police, which led to the discovery of a doping ring that involved over 200 atheltes from across the world. Few however have been sanctioned.

Related stories: