Lausanne: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted Thursday life bans on 28 of the 43 Russians accused of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. This decision clears their path to compete at the Pyeongchang Games later this month.
Sport’s top court ruled there was ‘insufficient’ evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored doping at the last Winter Games, hosted by Russia.
The CAS said in its judgement: “In 28 cases, the evidence collected was found to be insufficient to establish that an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) was committed by the athletes concerned.”
It added: “The evidence put forward by the IOC in relation to this matter did not have the same weight in each individual case.”
The IOC has banned Russia from competing at Pyeongchang as a team over the doping scandal, although 169 Russian competitors have been cleared to take part as neutrals.
Forty-two Russians – bobsleighers, cross-country skiers, competitors in the skeleton and ice hockey players – appealed against the bans at CAS. In addition to the 28 provided relief, CAS also lifted the life bans of another 11 Russians but barred them from competing at the Pyeongchang Olympics that start, February 9.
Among those whose life bans were scrapped is Alexander Legkov, 34, who won gold in Sochi in the 50-kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing event and silver in the 4x10km relay, only to have his results annulled over the doping allegations.
Meanwhile, Russia today welcomed the decision taken by CAS. “We are very glad for our athletes,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“The information about the decision of the CAS proves that energetic work to stand up for our rights in court and elsewhere – it is justified, it can be effective and it should continue. And we are hoping that this work will certainly continue,” Peskov added.
Peskov said it was not clear whether the 28 Russian athletes would now be able to take part in the Winter Games. “It is a difficult question,” the Kremlin spokesman said and added Russian officials would continue talking to the IOC.
Those let off
Dmitry Trunenkov, Aleksei Negodailo, Olga Stulneva, Liudmila Udobkina (all bobsleigh); Aleksander Tretiakov, Sergei Chudinov, Elena Nikitina, Olga Potylitsyna, Maria Orlova (all skeleton); Alexander Legkov, Evgeniy Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexey Petukhov, Nikita Kryukov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Evgenia Shapovalova, Natalia Matveeva (all cross-country skiing); Olga Fatkulina (speed skating), Alexander Rumyantsev, Ivan Skobrev, Artem Kuznetcov (all speed skating); Tatyana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko (both luge), Ekaterina Lebedeva, Ekaterina Pashkevich, Tatiana Burina, Anna Shchukina, Ekaterina Smolentseva (all ice hockey).
Agence France-Presse
