Marko Strahija (born 28 May 1975 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

) is a

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, who competed at three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

between 1996 and 2008.

Early career

Marko attended The Ohio State University and held university records in the 100 and 200 backstroke before the times were eclipsed by RJ Lemyre. In

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, United States, he finished in 11th position (B-Final) in the Men's 200 m backstroke, and was eliminated in the heats of the Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, alongside

Gordan Kožulj Gordan Kožulj (born 28 November 1976) is a former backstroke swimmer from Croatia. During his sporting career, Gordan achieved numerous successes some of them are: US (1998), Europe (2000, 2001, 2002) and World (2000) swimming championship titl ...

, Miroslav Vučetić, and

Marijan Kanjer Marijan Kanjer (born 1 October 1973, in Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It i ...

. Strahija won the silver medal, behind

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimming (sport), swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic Games, Oly ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, in the 200 m backstroke at the

2002 FINA Short Course World Championships The 6th FINA Short Course World Championships were held in Moscow, Russia on April 3–7, 2002. The event took place in the 25m-pool of the Olympiiski-complex, which also hosted the swimming event at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer ...

Doping suspension and exoneration

Strahija's urine sample, taken in an out-of-competition control in July 2002, tested positive for

human chorionic gonadotropin Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone for the maternal recognition of pregnancy produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo (syncytiotrophoblast initially), which eventually forms the placenta after implantat ...

(hCG). Since hCG is a known

tumor marker A tumor marker is a biomarker that can be used to indicate the presence of cancer or the behavior of cancers (measure progression or response to therapy). They can be found in bodily fluids or tissue. Markers can help with assessing prognosis, s ...

, Strahija underwent medical tests that found nothing suspicious. He maintained his innocence and disputed scientific validity of testing for hCG. Nevertheless, in 2003 he received a two-year suspension. In October 2007 Strahija again tested positive for hCG, which caused him to miss the European Short Course Championships held in December that year. This time, subsequent medical tests found

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

, and Strahija immediately underwent surgery. In February 2008, the

International Swimming Federation World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in water sports. It is one of several international federations whi ...

exonerated Strahija, lifting his provisional suspension. He made a successful recovery, taking part in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Olympic results

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strahija, Marko 1975 births Living people Male backstroke swimmers Croatian male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Croatia Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Zagreb Croatian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Swimmers at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming 21st-century Croatian sportsmen