The results of four Russian skiers from the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games have been annulled by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Russia’s Cross-Country Skiing Federation president announced the verdict on Thursday.
Alexey Petukhov and Maxim Vylegzhanin, along with two female teammates, Evgenia Shapovalova and Julia Ivanova, were stripped of their results from Sochi on the basis of the IOC Disciplinary Commission headed by Denis Oswald, federation President Elena Valbe told RSport.
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According to Valbe, all four athletes will also be barred from participation in the upcoming Olympic Games.
The decision means that Russia will lose two more Olympic awards: the silver medal in the men’s team sprint achieved by Vylegzhanin, and gold in the men’s 50km marathon. The latter medal had already been reallocated to Vylegzhanin following the recent disqualification of another Russian skier, Alexander Legkov.
Last week, the IOC handed life bans to two Russian skiers, Legkov and Evgeniy Belov, on the basis of the evidence provided by the same Oswald Commission into alleged doping by Russian athletes. The committee, however, did not specify the kind of doping violations Legkov and Belov had allegedly committed.
