OLYMPICS: Russian silver medallist biathlete Olga Pyleva was expelled from the Turin Winter Olympics yesterday after testing positive for a banned stimulant.
Pyleva, who won the 15km individual biathlon silver medal, will also be stripped of her medal, the International Olympic Committee said.
"Doping cases are things that happen in Olympic Games. We have to tackle that and we are doing that with great energy," IOC President Jacques Rogge said after the decision to expel the athlete.
Pyleva, a gold medallist in the 10km pursuit at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, tested positive for carphedon, a prohibited stimulant, on February 13th after the women's 15km individual biathlon.
The IOC Disciplinary Commission ruled the 30-year-old be disqualified from the event and excluded from the Games with immediate effect. The IOC has also requested that the International Biathlon Union (IBU) modify the results of the event and ordered the Russian Olympic Committee to return her medal.
Pyleva now faces a two-year ban from the IBU, the minimum term demanded by the World Anti-Doping Agency for a drugs offence. The IBU scheduled a hearing for today pending the availability of the athlete.
Nikolai Durmanov, head of the anti-doping inspection at the Russian Olympic Commission, said Pyleva had taken medicine for an injury, not knowing it contained the banned drug carphedon.
Durmanov spoke to reporters before the IOC announcement. "We have to get ready for tough sanctions," he told journalists. "On the packet it had nothing saying it contained carphedon . . . It even has instructions saying it can be used by athletes."
Pyleva is also likely to face an Italian investigation.
A senior judicial source said Turin prosecutors will launch an investigation once they had received official notification that a doping violation had been committed.
Pyleva's expulsion came on the same day that World Anti-Doping chief Dick Pound caused a stir saying several skiers who were suspended on health grounds due to high levels of haemoglobin must have taken drugs.
"Frankly, we think we are dealing with doping," Pound told Reuters. "It is too much of a coincidence to have 12 athletes with hugely high Hb (haemoglobin) levels just before the Games."
Twelve athletes, all cross-country skiers, registered high Hb values and were suspended by the International Skiing Federation for five days due to health concerns.
