The Russian biathlon team in its entirety may today be removed from competitions at the World Cup stages. Today in Munich, following a meeting of the executive committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), dedicated to the problem of doping, a decision will be made.
In 2011–2015, 31 shooting skiers from Russia were suspected of using prohibited substances. The list, based on a report on December 15, was handed over by an independent commission of the World anti-doping agency(WADA) under the leadership of Richard McLaren.
The agency does not officially publish the names of Russian athletes who were caught violating anti-doping rules. “The names of the athletes in the 31 folders of documents will remain confidential until final decisions are made on each individual case,” Sport Express quotes an IBU press release.
However, information about biathletes “caught” for doping was leaked onto the Internet, including Ekaterinburg resident Anton Shipulin. The portal site cannot judge the authenticity of the file, but this option is being discussed on social networks. By the way, it contains exactly 31 points.
Note that on December 11, journalists found out that WADA suspects four Russian biathletes of using the so-called “Rodchenkov cocktail” - a mixture of alcohol and anabolic steroids. The personal data of the athletes was converted into a digital code, but a simple logical calculation managed to find out three names: Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova. Until today, the name Shipulin has never been mentioned in this context.
It is reported that some biathletes on the list have already been disqualified, some have completed their careers.
Anders Besseberg, IBU President:
We have enough evidence of violations of anti-doping rules by Russians. We have received additional information that is not in the McLaren report.
Match TV commentator Dmitry Guberniev, who knows biathlon probably better than anyone in the country, also warns about serious sanctions.
Dmitry Guberniev, commentator:
There is a high probability of Russia's complete removal. IBU President Besseberg's tone has changed over the past few days. Now we need to cooperate as much as possible with the investigation, although there is a feeling that it is too late. The situation is critical.
In theory, there are several possible scenarios for today's meeting, which will begin at 17:00 local time:
- removal of current athletes from competitions and review of results Olympic Games in Sochi;
- non-admission of biathletes to the next Olympic Games in Pyeongchang;
- removal of the entire team from the season.
In addition, there is a high probability that the Union will cancel the competitions planned in Russia: the World Junior Championships in Ostrov and the World Cup in Tyumen.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU), after the publication of the second part of Richard McLaren's report, suspended silver medalists from competitions Olympic relay in Sochi, Olga Vilukhina, who also won personal silver in the sprint, and Yana Romanova. This was reported by the Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport.
On December 22, the IBU announced the provisional suspension of two Russian biathletes against whom the IOC opened disciplinary proceedings based on data presented in the report of an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren. However, the names of the athletes - those who competed in Sochi and passed suspicious samples - were not named. In total, 31 Russian biathletes were suspected of violating anti-doping rules, the documents for which the IBU received from WADA. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova are suspended. They, together with Olga Zaitseva and Ekaterina Shumilova, won the 2014 Games in Sochi silver awards in the 4x6 km relay race, and Vilukhina also became second in the 7.5 km sprint. In November, Vilukhina, who practically did not perform after 2014 due to thyroid disease, officially announced the end of her career. sports career. But Yana Romanova, who also has not started for the main Russian national team for a long time, has not made such statements.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Olga Vilukhina passed four doping tests in Sochi, two of which - the first and last - were allegedly falsified. The biathlete herself denies the information that she has ever violated anti-doping rules. “It is very difficult for me to at least somehow explain the information that appeared in the media. Or at least put forward some versions. Whether we became victims of someone’s sick fantasies or some kind of behind-the-scenes games, I don’t know,” R-Sport quotes Olga Vilukhina. “But all my doping tests throughout my entire sports career - before, during and after the Games Sochi - they were clean! And why they suddenly became suspicious, I absolutely don’t understand! Every subsequent day after taking a doping sample into the ADAMS system, I received a negative answer. It’s not our samples that are suspicious, but all these McLaren reports, Rodchenkov’s lists and their unsubstantiated accusations.”
Olga Vilukhina also claims that she will fight for the purity of her name and results, and if she is charged, she will hire lawyers and sue. “Everything that’s happening is absurd,” she says. “I’m sure I won’t be alone in this fight: too many athletes are under attack.”
Olga Vilukhina competed for the Russian national team from 2009 to 2016 and, in addition to medals at the Sochi Olympics, won bronze at the 2012 World Championships in the pursuit race, and won four times as part of relay races at the World Cup. Yana Romanova competed for the Russian national team from 2008 to 2015 and, in addition to the Olympic relay silver, has three victories at the World Cup stages.
The IOC, we recall, has launched a disciplinary investigation against 28 Russian athletes who competed at the 2014 Olympic Games, the study of whose samples by Richard McLaren indicates possible manipulation. Also, IOC President Thomas Bach said that the IOC will recheck all the tests of Russian Olympians taken from them at the Games in Sochi.
Vera Mukhina
How 31 Russian biathletes ended up on the list of suspects
The country's most popular winter sport, biathlon, risks becoming the next victim of a new round of the doping crisis in Russia. In December, the International Biathlon Union received from the World Anti-Doping Agency a list of Russian athletes suspected of using prohibited drugs. There were 31 people in it. IBU President Anders Besseberg has already made it clear that his organization may consider moving it from Russia international competitions in 2021.
Photo: eurosport.com The doping case will be postponed until next year.
The Russian biathlon team in its entirety may today be removed from competitions at the World Cup stages. Today in Munich, following a meeting of the executive committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), dedicated to the problem of doping, a decision will be made.
In 2011–2015, 31 shooting skiers from Russia were suspected of using prohibited substances. The list, based on the report, was handed over on December 15 by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by Richard McLaren.
The agency does not officially publish the names of Russian athletes who were caught violating anti-doping rules. “The names of the athletes in the 31 folders of documents will remain confidential until final decisions are made on each case separately,” Sport Express quotes the IBU press release.
However, information about biathletes “caught” for doping was leaked onto the Internet, including Ekaterinburg resident Anton Shipulin. The 66.ru portal cannot judge the authenticity of the file, but this option is being discussed on social networks. By the way, it contains exactly 31 points.
Let us note that on December 11, journalists found out that WADA suspects four Russian biathletes of using the so-called “Rodchenkov cocktail” - a mixture of alcohol and anabolic steroids. The personal data of the athletes was converted into a digital code, but a simple logical calculation managed to find out three names: Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova. Until today, the name Shipulin has never been mentioned in this context.
It is reported that some biathletes on the list have already been disqualified, some have completed their careers.
Anders Besseberg, IBU President:
We have enough evidence of violations of anti-doping rules by Russians. We have received additional information that is not in the McLaren report.
Commentator on the Match TV channel Dmitry Guberniev, who knows biathlon probably better than anyone in the country, also warns about serious sanctions.
Dmitry Guberniev, commentator:
There is a high probability of Russia's complete removal. IBU President Besseberg's tone has changed over the past few days. Now we need to cooperate as much as possible with the investigation, although there is a feeling that it is too late. The situation is critical.
In theory, there are several possible scenarios for today's meeting, which will begin at 17:00 local time:
In addition, there is a high probability that the Union will cancel the competitions planned in Russia: the World Junior Championships in Ostrov and the World Cup in Tyumen.
Latest news from the Sverdlovsk region on the topic:
Anton Shipulin was blacklisted by WADA. The decision to suspend the biathlete for doping will be made today
Russia lost the Biathlon World Cup stage, but retained the national team- Ekaterinburg
The Russian Biathlon Union refused the World Cup stage in Tyumen. The IBU release reports that the Russian Biathlon Union proposed to the International Biathlon Union to move the World Cup stage from Tyumen.
13:07 23.12.2016
JustMedia.Ru
Anton Shipulin was blacklisted by WADA. The decision to suspend the biathlete for doping will be made today- Ekaterinburg
Photo: eurosport.com The doping case will be postponed until next year.
14:36 22.12.2016
66.Ru
Britain, Norway and the Czech Republic announced a boycott of the biathlon championship in Tyumen- Ekaterinburg
Three countries, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Norway, have announced that they are not going to participate in the world biathlon championship, which will be held in Tyumen in March next year, the British Biathlon Union reported to Nakanune.RU.
14:33 22.12.2016
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For the Western media, no one is innocent.
The portal Insidethegames, specializing in sports politics, called all Russian biathletes cheaters and dopers. There is no other way to interpret the words about 65 athletes against whom there is “substantial evidence.” It is obvious that at the upcoming IBU Congress in Slovenia the Russian theme will be a trump card. Whoever hits the SBR the hardest is a good guy.
SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE
“I learned that there is “substantial evidence” against 65 Russian biathletes,” wrote Nick Butler, a journalist for the portal. - The IBU is the only winter federation that is conducting an investigation into the Moscow anti-doping laboratory. Why do others ignore it, say, such sports as skating, skiing, bobsleigh and curling? Many of these cases would receive stronger evidence if access to the Moscow laboratory itself could be gained.
The IBU immediately issued a statement.
We have not yet talked about which Russians violated the rules, and on what basis we took this. And we will not report until we receive an official response from the suspects,” says the IBU official website.
The IBU Congress will begin on September 5, and it will be decided whether to restore the rights of the Russian Biathlon Union, or leave it with temporary restrictions. Or even worse - deprive them of all rights altogether, and allow Russian athletes to compete only in a neutral status. Or not allowed anywhere at all.
If the evidence is truly significant, it must be presented and all those responsible must be punished. If there is no such evidence, then there is nothing to talk about.
EVERYONE COMES UNDER SUSPECTION
But 65 is too many. Where did this figure come from?
Butler does not hide the fact that we are talking about an electronic database that was stolen from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory (LIMS). Judging by the number of suspects, this is simply a list of all biathletes whom RUSADA tested for doping from 2012 to 2015. Not those convicted of anything, but everyone who was tested for doping.
All Russian biathletes who appeared at various international levels - from junior competitions to world championships and the Olympic Games - came under suspicion. At the adult level alone, during the specified period, more than three dozen athletes passed through the Russian national team at the World Cup stages.
There were also those among them whom everyone had already forgotten. For example, Valentina Nazarova, Marina Korovina And Alexandra Alikina. There were those who were punished by anti-doping services. For example, . Many have already completed their careers, but most are still performing.
WHAT IS AWAITING FOR SBR
Most likely, Nick Butler mixed into one pile absolutely everything that in one way or another related to Russia for last years. But this doesn’t make it any easier for the Russian Biathlon Union. Russian doping- Today is a trump topic. And no one in the world is interested in the details of what really is. If something happened before, it continues now. And on a much larger scale.
Besviken. Enligt RBU så är tre inte längre aktiva. Men det spelar ingen roll - omfattningen av den ryska stadsdopingen visar sig bara större och större. Krävs bra beslut på kongressen 7 Sep, svensk president och att RUS fortsätter vara provisorisk medlem. https://t.co/UmKFsAO8bZ
Sebastian Samuelsson (@SebbeSamuelsson)
The International Biathlon Federation, without waiting for any specific data on our athletes who are only suspected of doping, is already ready to remove them from competitions. Reports of the latest doping revelations, based, as before, on the data of the McLaren commission, caused a natural reaction among Russian biathletes - to prove their innocence. But my colleagues, foreign athletes, turned out to be seriously divided: some demonstrate a clear “allergy” to Russians, but there are also those who call for a reasonable approach, without sweeping accusations.
The list of 31 names, plus three hundred pages of accompanying documents, has just been submitted to the International Biathlon Union. Judging by McLaren's second report, the papers most likely contain the already familiar photos of scratches and quotes from Grigory Rodchenkov. It is clear why sports officials are in no hurry to jump to conclusions.
“We actually received a list of 31 Russian athletes, but it seems impossible for me to talk about how many of them are currently competing at the World Cup. There are three groups of athletes on this list: active biathletes, those who have already completed their careers, and those who are not included in our database,” said Anders Besseberg, President of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
Athletes who are not in the International Biathlon Union database do not compete at the international level at all. Those who have already finished their careers also do not pose a threat to the World Championships and Cups. And anyone who is disqualified cannot be punished twice by law. It turns out that the story is about 31 “dirty” Russian athlete even less convincing than McLaren's second report, based on the pseudo-revelations of an emigrant chemist with a dubious reputation.
The Russian issue in the Biathlon Union is decided by an international commission; there is not much time to make fateful decisions. The next stage of the World Cup starts in Germany on January 5th. The Biathlon World Championships will open in Austria in February. And there it’s not far from the Russian stage of the World Cup. And the commissions are already making it clear what results they expect.
“If nothing is done by January, I will urge my colleagues from foreign teams, from Germany, the Czech Republic, from all other countries, to boycott,” said biathlete Martin Fourcade.
Martin Fourcade, ten-time world champion in biathlon, demands disqualification and transfer of competitions outside of Russia. True, the Frenchman did not dare say this to the face of his Russian opponent Anton Shipulin. At a press conference, he silently agrees with the words of the Russian biathlete, who is already tired of brushing aside groundless suspicions.
“Politics and sports have mixed up lately. I always thought that sport was higher than this. But in any case, I’m not one hundred percent worried about myself. I have nothing to worry about. Let’s see what happens next,” said the Russian athlete.
In such a situation, the third stage of the Biathlon World Cup opened in the Czech Republic the day before. The main question is whether the current stars of the Russian biathlon team are on the list of athletes suspected of doping?
“We have no concerns yet, because all the athletes who are training today as part of the national team and are at the World Cup have gone through this entire doping control procedure quite a few times. Moreover, almost all of the first team prepared in Europe, and here, I think, there should be no questions for them. Because there I don’t know how many times they were tested in one year. I am one hundred percent sure that those athletes who today take part in our competitions, in our competitions, are clean. Everything is going as normal for us, we are all working, there are normal relations with us, we are training. They treat us very well, the guys have the same positive attitude towards each other. To be honest, I never read or listen to what Fourcade says. At least we communicate with the coaches. We have excellent relations with both French and Norwegian coaches,” said Alexander Kasperovich, Main coach Russian biathlon team.
No matter how much criticism and sidelong glances Russian biathletes I didn’t have to endure it in the coming days; fortunately, there are athletes who have not yet forgotten how to distinguish facts from political attacks.
“For me, they are all “clean” until they are disqualified. But if even ten percent of the information about doping is true, then this is a disaster. However, first I want to see evidence of their guilt,” said biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
Following the titled Norwegian, the Russians were supported by the coaches of the Swedish and German national teams, biathletes Emil Svendsen and Johannes Boe. But will others heed their call not to violate the presumption of innocence? After all, the news that all 63 blood samples taken from Russians in Sochi gave a negative result after a recheck organized by the IOC was for some reason ignored outside Russia.