Russian biathletes appeal bans

Eurosport - Mon, 24 Aug 13:06:00 2009

Two leading Russian biathletes have appealed against two-year bans which they were handed after testing positive for the blood-booster EPO.

Albina Akhatova Russia - 0

Albina Akhatova (pictured), winner of the Olympic relay gold in 2006 and three world titles, and Ekaterina Iourieva, winner of one world title, were suspended last month by the International Biathlon Union.

They tested positive during a World Cup event in Ostersund, Sweden, last December along with fellow Russian Dmitri Yaroshenko, who has also been banned for two years.

The bans were back-dated to start from the time of the offence.

All three athletes had been provisionally suspended since February and missed this year's world championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

CAS, sport's highest tribunal, said that the IBU and the two athletes had agreed to go straight to them, by-passing the IBU's own tribunal, so that the dispute could be settled before the start of next season.

The Lausanne-based court usually takes around four months to settle cases.

Reuters

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  1. Hope the tribunal finds in the atheletes favour­ although once your reputation has been tarnished­ everything you subsequently achieve will be subject to­ doubt and discredit. As a major player in biathlon the­ Russians expect a great deal of sucsess from their­ competitors which leads to huge pressure to deliver. I­ do not know the extent of the atheletes involvment in­ their medical sciences but it is still their own­ responsibillity to ensure that they are not being­ administered any dubious substances by their overseers.­
    On a personal note I will miss not having Albina­ Akhatova on the circuit as she is the best looking­ athelete in the field.

    From jtindle, on Tue 13 Oct 2:39AM
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