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Russia's Sergeyeva Kicked Out Of Winter Olympics For Doping


Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva (file photo)
Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva (file photo)

Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva has been banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics after failing a doping test, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on February 24.

CAS said that she had tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine and had admitted the offense, the fourth doping case to hit the Olympics in South Korea.

Sergeyeva "is excluded from the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018", the court said in a statement.

The delegation of Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) said on February 23 that it received notification that Sergeyeva had tested positively for using trimetazidine.

The Russians are competing under the Olympic flag and in neutral uniforms because of what the International Olympic Committee describes as a state-run, systemic doping program at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.

Sergeyeva is the second Russian athlete to test positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs at the 2018 Olympics.

Sergeyeva and her team mate finished 12th in the two-woman bobsleigh competition on February 21.

Sergeyeva had said initially that she took no medication.

Sergeyeva's ban came a day after Russian curler Aleksandr Krushelnitsky was stripped of a bronze medal for using meldonium.

A Slovenian hockey player and a Japanese speedskater also both left the games after failing tests.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa

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