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Russian Bobsledder Banned For Two Years For Doping Violations


Aleksandr Zubkov
Aleksandr Zubkov

The international organization overseeing bobsledding and skeleton said it had suspended two-time Olympic gold-medal winner Aleksandr Zubkov for two years for doping code violations at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said in a statement on January 16 that Zubkov, who was already stripped of his Sochi medals by the International Olympic Committee, will be suspended until December 2020.

Zubkov, who is retired, is now president of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, but the Russian Olympic Committee said it would seek to remove him from that post.

Zubkov told the RIA Novosti news agency that he would "study the documents" before deciding whether to appeal.

The issue of state-sponsored athlete doping in Sochi has continued to haunt Russian sports.

An inspection team from the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA, is in Moscow this week collecting doping data from a laboratory that has been at the center of Russia's doping suspicions.

Russia was obligated to allow inspectors access to the Moscow lab and data as a condition of the agency's controversial decision in September to provisionally reinstate the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA.

But the effort has seen delays, and there were safety fears for the inspectors.

The inspection team is expected to submit a report to the WADA executive board once they leave Russia.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters

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