This wasn’t assassination though, the headline is just deceptive. It was just a lone psycho in Russia trying to kill another Russian. Not an international competition, like was implied in the headline. (Or at least that’s the impression I got from the headline.
Oliver Carroll, a Ukraine war correspondent for The Economist, summed up the situation with some social media snark: “I know that on the standards of Russian doping it’s perhaps only a 7 out of 10. But still…”
What a weird way to try to poison someone. Mercury is really only poisonous under specific circumstances. Specifically, it is extremely dangerous to breath its vapors.
Touching it, or being near a small amount of it a few feet away really doesn’t do anything. It’s a safe-ish substance to make casual contact with (still not safe, but not profoundly noxious either).
There have been cases of people surviving drinking and even injecting mercury, as it isn’t toxic the way you might think it is under most circumstances.
It is still quite a dangerous thing, and using it maliciously (even if you have no idea what you’re doing) is no joke. Fortunately, the person targeted here is likely unaffected by mercury exposure.
I mean, the article states that the victim did suffer some symptoms, so I wouldn’t say they were totally unaffected. If the article is accurate, would it be possible that she was inhaling vapor from the spill? The victim is quoted as saying she had to be at that board for 5 hours, and the Wikipedia article indicates that the primary danger of elemental mercury is inhalation of vapor (it claims 80% absorption rate via respiration, as opposed to the 1% via direct contact). Unfortunately, I am pretty ignorant of chemistry, so I’ve no idea if my speculation is plausible. How much room temp mercury would need to be sitting in front of you before you felt the effects of the vapor. Or even if you would at all, since the CDC website says the vapor is more dense than air.
Additionally, I noticed that one of the symptoms of mercury inhalation is cognitive impairment. Obviously this is more speculation, but perhaps the intent was not to kill, but rather to sabotage the victim’s play? After all, it seems like the perpetrator and the victim were rivals. Could be a Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding situation, just more classically Russian what with the use of poison rather than brute force.
What is it with Russian athletes (being it mental or physical) just always cheating so much that at this point it’s just expected?
Would it have anything to do with living in a dictatorship with a leader who always needs to be perceived as the best with the best countryband the best people because of his policies?
Once again, 105 comments and nothing about the actual article and it’s information. Plenty of xenophobic comments against a population of a country (like the U.S. government is that great, so therefor I must be exactly like my political leaders). The Chess players had already competed against each other and the other player who was poisoned won by a default with a tie. There’s some other reporting about a confrontation between the two and they’ve known each other for years apparently.
Chessbase said the dispute was over a recent match between the two in which “both chess players scored the same number of points, but the victory was awarded to Osmanova, based on additional factors.”
Another Telegram channel says that the issue was about negative statements made by Osmanova about Abakarova and her family members.
One Russian news outlet said that the two had known each other for years but had recently fought. In this version of the story, Abakarova showed up to one recent match with a phone, which is against the rules. Osmanova was upset but did not tell the judges. “She should have been grateful to me that I didn’t make a fuss and forgave her,” Osmanova said. “Instead, Amina refused to shake my hand during the competition last week.”
Definitely not ok either way and I hope that they get a sentencing that matches the crime. This is just a bitter crazy person it seems and has nothing to do about poisoning to win a match. Love the disconnect on the sports world and rampant cheating like it doesn’t exist everywhere lol.