The Russian Paralympic stripped of medals 11 years after the violation of doping
Russian Paralympic Nikolay Polukhin was undressed medals for violating the anti -doping rules – 11 years after having won them at the 2014 winter paralympics in Sochi.
The Independent Court of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) discovered that the Para-Biathlon Polukhin athlete provided urine samples that had been tampered with during the games, an event obscured by Russian doping sponsored by the state.
DNA tests showed that Polukhin provided “clean” urine during the games that could be “exchanged” with champions who would have been positive for trimetazidine (TMZ).
TMZ is a drug that increases blood flow to the heart and stimulates glucose metabolism, which can improve resistance.
The forensic analysis of the sampling bottle showed “scratches and signs and a sign of the teeth of the residues of urine that could have been caused only by someone who closed himself, then re -inclined, then reclined the bottle of the champion”.
The Court said that the urine analysis conducted in 2018 has shown that the composition of the urine has changed from the 2014 analysis by the Sochi Laboratory.
Polukhin, now 42 years old, will lose his gold medal with a 15 km male para-biathlon with a visually and silver competition from the same event at 7.5 km and 12.5 km of distances.
The court discovered that the athlete’s conduct during the 2014 Paralympic winter games was “particularly excellent” and “significantly threatened the integrity of the event”.
He said that Polukhin did not provide “any logical or plausible explanation” for the evidence of the exchange of champions with his urine.
Polukhin filed an appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but this was withdrawn at the beginning of this month after it was unable to pay the progress of costs.
The Court made its decision on September 25, 2024, but based on the rules it could not reveal the decision until the appeal process is completed.
Jude Ellis, head of the IPC, said: “The resolution of this case traces a line under what has been a long-standing process in potential violations of the anti-reddied rules by Russian athletes at the Paralympic winter games of Sochi 2014”.
The IPC confirmed to BBC Sport that there are no further investigations related to Sochi 2014.
