Russia doping scandal Russians hail 'triumph of justice' as IOC doping bans are overturned Decision that puts country back top of Sochi medals table welcomed by athletes and politicians Alexander Tretiakov, who won gold for Russia in the men’s skeleton at Sochi, is one of 28 athletes whose IOC bans have been overturned. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty ImagesRussia has hailed a decision by the court of arbitration for sport to overturn Olympic doping bans on 28 of the country’s athletes, with the sports ministry declaring that “justice has finally triumphed”. Cas ruled on Thursday morning that there was insufficient evidence that 28 Russians, including several medallists, had broken anti-doping rules at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The appeals of 11 other Russian athletes were upheld by Cas on Thursday, but their life bans were reduced to a ban from the upcoming Pyeongchang Games alone. Mikhail Degtyarev, chairman of the Russian parliament’s sports committee, urged the athletes whose bans were overturned on Thursday to take IOC to court for slander and to “defend their honour”.

Source: The Guardian February 01, 2018 14:14 UTC