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Latvia Skeleton Team To Boycott World Cup In Russia Over Doping Scandal


Yelena Nikitina of Russia in the women’s skeleton competition at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February 2014
Yelena Nikitina of Russia in the women’s skeleton competition at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February 2014

Latvia's skeleton team said it would not be participating in upcoming world championships in Russia due to the ongoing scandal over doping by Russian athletes.

The team made the announcement in a statement on December 11.

The world championships for bobsled and skeleton were scheduled to be held in February in Sochi, home to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

A growing number of athletes, however, have said they would consider skipping the championships unless officials move the event out of Russia.

They include some past Olympic medalists from the United States and Britain.

The Latvian announcement came two days after the sport's world governing body said that it would "act promptly and decisively" following the release of the latest report detailing the scope of Russia's doping program.​

The report, by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, found that Russians who won 15 medals in Sochi had their drug-testing samples tampered with. That included two athletes who won four gold medals.

Russia has denied the accusations of state-sponsored doping.

With reporting by AP

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