A second positive case of doping has been presented in the Russian delegation during these Winter Olympics, a day before the IOC executive board decides whether to restore the country’s rights for the closing ceremony to be held on Sunday.
Alexander Zubkov, president of the Russian Bobsled Federation, told The Associated Press that a sample taken from Bobsled pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva tested positive on Sunday.
The Russian delegation in Pyeongchang reported in a statement that the substance found was trimetazdine, a drug used for angina pectoris and mentioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a prohibited substance that affects metabolism.
“She confirms that she did not take that drug, and the team notes that she did not prescribe it,” said Zubkov, a former bobsled competitor, who was stripped of two Olympic gold medals in the doping scandal that engulfed Russia at the Sochi Olympics. . “The representatives of the Federation in the Olympic Games begin to prepare the defense.”
Zubkov added that a sample taken from the athlete five days earlier was negative.
“I can tell you that on the 13th she was clean, but on the 18th she tested positive for the heart medication,” he said.
The International Olympic Committee reported on Friday night that the Russian delegation had notified it of the positive result.
Sergeeva’s bobsled finished 12th on Wednesday after the positive sample was taken.
It was only in December that Russia was excluded from the Olympics because of the doping cases in Sochi. However, the IOC invited 168 athletes from the country to compete with the Olympic flag.
“This will not give us any additional merit,” acknowledged the leader of the Russian delegation Stanislav Pozdnyakov, in statements to Russian media. “Unfortunately, this case speaks of negligence on the part of the athlete. She has disappointed us ”.
Russia’s second doping positive in Pyeongchang
