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By Canadian Press

Sochi gold medallist among 4 Russians banned for doping

Nov 22, 2017 | 5:29 AM

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Four more Russians were banned by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday for doping at the 2014 Sochi Games, including a gold medallist .

All four competed in skeleton and include men’s gold medallist Alexander Tretyakov and women’s bronze medallist Elena Nikitina.

Two other Russian women who didn’t win medals, Maria Orlova and Olga Potylitsina, were also banned.

Ten Russians have been banned so far on evidence of a state-sponsored doping program in Sochi, including samples being swapped in the laboratory.

Russia has now been stripped of six medals, two of them gold. All the previous bans were in cross-country skiing.

The cases against the Russians rest on evidence gathered by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren, including testimony from the former director of Russia’s anti-doping laboratories in Moscow and Sochi.

Without positive doping tests, the IOC disciplinary panel used evidence of coverups and tampering of sample bottles first gathered last year by McLaren’s team.

The ban for Tretyakov puts Latvia in line for its first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal. If the IOC formally reallocates the medals, Martins Dukurs would be upgraded to gold. It would also mean silver for Matthew Antoine of the United States and bronze for Dukurs’ brother, Tomass.

In the women’s event, Nikitina’s bronze would go to American slider Katie Uhlaender, who originally missed the podium by 0.04 seconds.

The IOC sanctions disqualify the Russians from the Sochi Olympics and also ban them from all future Olympics.

The Associated Press


by Canadian Press