IOC Sanctions Three More Bobsled and Skeleton Athletes

From the home office in Durham, USA

(Nov. 27, 2017) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced further sanctions involving competitors in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Jump to IOC text of decisions

Sergei Chudinov, who had finished fifth in men’s skeleton, has been disqualified from the 2014 Olympic skeleton program, and banned from all further Olympics. In addition to Chudinov, two push athletes from Alexander Zubkov’s four-man sled, Dmitry Trunenkov and Alexey Negodaylo, have been disqualified from the 2014 Games and banned from all further Olympics.

The penalties mirror those handed down to Zubkov, Alexander Tretiakov, Olga Polynitsina, Maria Orlova, and Elena Nikitina, all of whom were banned in the weeks leading up to today’s announcement. As with those previously banned, a full ruling will be released at a later date.

Hearings were set up after the WADA’s McLaren Report laid out in great detail the Russian doping program as it pertained to the 2014 Games. Using that information, the IOC Disciplinary Commission began investigating doping charges on an athlete-by-athlete basis.

Through Oswald Commission (headed by Disciplinary Commission chief Denis Oswald), the IOC has determined that all four athletes were “found to have committed anti-doping rule violations pursuant to Article 2 of The International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Rules” as they applied to the Winter Games in Sochi. With that, both Tretiakov and Nikitina have had their medals stripped by the IOC.

As in the previous rulings, the IBSF has been charged by the IOC to modify the event results to reflect the disqualifications. If/when athletes are re-ranked based on disqualifications, this is how athletes will likely rank:

2014 Olympics – Men’s Skeleton 2014 Olympics – Four-Man Bobsled
Pos Name Nation Draw Total Pos Pilot Nation Draw Total
1 Martins Dukurs LAT 3 3:45.10 1 Oskars Melbardis LAT-1 7 3:40.69
2 Matthew Antoine USA 2 3:47.26 2 Steven Holcomb USA-1 2 3:40.99
3 Tomass Dukurs LAT 4 3:47.58 3 Alexander Kasjanov RUS-2 6 3:41.02
4 Nikita Tregybov RUS 17 3:47.62 4 John James Jackson GBR-1 12 3:41.10
5 John Fairbairn CAN 6 3:48.13 5 Maximilian Arndt GER-1 1 3:41.42
6 Kristan Bromley GBR 11 3:48.17 6 Thomas Florschütz GER-3 4 3:41.51
7 Alexander Kröckel GER 7 3:48.29 7 Beat Hefti SUI-1 11 3:41.75
8 Dominic Parsons GBR 13 3:48.36 8 Lyndon Rush CAN-2 9 3:41.76
9 Frank Rommel GER 1 3:48.47 9 Francesco Friedrich GER-2 8 3:41.80
10 Hiroatsu Takahashi JPN 10 3:48.74 10 Edwin Van Calker NED-1 14 3:42.69
11 Eric Neilson CAN 14 3:48.77 11 Nick Cunningham USA-2 13 3:42.70
12 Matthias Guggenberger AUT 16 3:49.00 12 Christopher Spring CAN-1 5 3:42.84
13 John Daly USA 9 3:49.11 13 Oskars Kibermanis LAT-2 16 3:42.98
14 Sungbin Yun KOR 18 3:49.57 14 Nikita Zakharov RUS-3 15 3:43.06
15 John Farrow AUS 23 3:50.67 15 Jan Vrba CZE-1 19 3:43.17
16 Maurizio Oioli ITA 20 3:50.68 16 Loic Costerg FRA-1 22 3:43.18
17 Raphael Maier AUT 15 3:50.86 17 Simone Bertazzo ITA-1 17 3:43.45
18 Ben Sandford NZL 26 3:51.21 18 Lamin Deen GBR-2 18 3:43.52
19 Kyle Tress USA 12 2:53.74 19 Yonjong Won KOR-1 21 3:44.22
20 Yuki Sasahara JPN 19 2:54.20 20 Benjamin Maier AUT-1 24 2:48.63
21 Hansin Lee KOR 24 2:54.75 21 Heath Spence AUS-1 23 2:48.64
22 Alexandros Kefalas GRE 22 2:55.17 22 Thibault Alexis Godefroy FRA-2 30 2:48.99
23 Dorin Velicu ROU 27 2:56.07 23 Andreas Neagu ROU-1 25 2:49.03
24 Ander Mirambell ESP 25 2:56.10 24 Milan Jagnesak SVK-1 28 2:49.44
25 Sean Greenwood IRL 21 3:01.32 25 Hiroshi Suzuki JPN-1 20 2:49.46
26 Dawid Kupczyk POL-1 26 2:49.49
DSQ Alexander Tretyakov RUS 5 3:44.29 27 Donghyun Kim KOR-2 29 2:50.64
DSQ Sergei Chudinov RUS 8 3:47.59 28 Edson Bindilatti BRA-1 27 2:50.71
29 Justin Kripps CAN-3 10 2:50.80
DSQ Alexsandr Zubkov RUS-1 3 3:40.60


Full IOC Decisions in PDF form below:
IOC Decision on Sergei Chudinov
IOC Decision on Dmitry Trunenkov
IOC Decision on Alexey Negodaylo