Olympics - Second Russian Caught For Doping

A second Russian athlete competing at the Winter Olympics has been discovered to be positive for a banned substance.

30-year-old Nadezhda Sergeeva competed as neutrals and finished 12th in the two-woman bobsleigh event in Pyeongchang. She is one of 168 Russians allowed to paritcipate at the Games despite the country being banned for previous doping offenses. The Russian Bobsleigh Federation said Sergeeva had tested positive for “a heart drug that was not prescribed by its medical team.”

The Goldwater previously reported on the case of curler Alexander Krushelnitsky who was the first Russian athlete found guilty of doping. Krushelnitsky won a bronze along with his partner and wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova for the mixed doubles team in the new event. He was stripped of the prize Thursday. The Russian curler tested positive for meldonium, a drug that has been banned since 2016.

Read:

https://thegoldwater.com/news/18781-Russian-Olympic-Curler-Who-Won-Bronze-Suspected-of-Doping

The International Olympic Committee banned Russia over “systemic “ state-run doping at Sochi in 2014 which they hosted. Athletes who could prove, however, that they were clean were allowed to compete. That is also the reason why the Russians are competing this year under the Olympic flag and in neutral uniforms.

On Friday, the neutral Olympic athletes from Russia (OAR) team won their first gold medal of the Games in South Korea when 15-year-old Alina Zagitova came first in the women’s single figure skating. Her compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva took silver. The Russian team is considered the third biggest force at the Games behind Canada and the United States.

It is not yet clear if aside from being stripped of the bronze medal for Krushelnitsky, Russia with two doping charges will also lose its chance to see its flag flown in the closing ceremony of the Games. It would also put into question the vetting process the IOC used to determine who would be invited to Pyeongchang.

Source:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/43168312

https://www.rferl.org/a/olympics-russian-bobsledder-positive-doping/29058747.html