Kasjanov, Pushkarev, Khuzin Latest in IOC Sanctions

From Lausanne, SUI

(Nov. 29, 2017) Three more Russian bobsledders were sanctioned this morning as part of the ongoing Oswald Commission investigation into doping and sample tampering at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. This time it involves three active athletes who have just won a gold medal in the IBSF World Cup.

Jump to IOC text of decisions

Alexander Kasjanov, Alexey Pushkarev, and Ilvir Khuzin are the latest athletes to be sanctioned by the IOC. As with all other cases handled by the Oswald Commission all three athletes were found to be in violation of Article 2 of the IOC Anti-Doping rules, which among other things include “Evading, Refusing, or Failing to Submit a Sample Collection (2.3)” and “Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control (2.5)”.

All three men have had their Olympic finish revoked. Kasjanov had finished in the top five in both two and four-man bobsled, and all three are banned from all future Olympic Games.

Kasjanov’s two-man brakeman, Maxim Belugin, is the only member of the four-man squad currently not sanctioned by the IOC.

In the most recent IBSF World Cup stop in Whistler, Kasjanov, Pushkarev, and Khuzin were all members of the four-man team who won gold ahead of Great Britain’s Lamin Deen. All three men have been provisionally suspended by the IBSF.

As with other cases, the IBSF is expected to modify event results accordingly. Once this happens, Olympic two and four-man bobsled results should look something like this:

2014 Olympics – Two-Man Bobsled 2014 Olympics – Four-Man Bobsled
Pos Names Nation Draw Total Pos Pilot Nation Draw Total
1 Hefti/Baumann SUI-1 2 3:46.05 1 Oskars Melbardis LAT-1 7 3:40.69
2 Holcomb/Langton USA-1 1 3:46.27 2 Steven Holcomb USA-1 2 3:40.99
3 Melbardis/Dreiskens LAT-1 12 3:46.48 3 John James Jackson GBR-1 12 3:41.10
4 Kripps/Barnett CAN-3 10 3:46.62 4 Maximilian Arndt GER-1 1 3:41.42
5 Spring/Lumsden CAN-2 9 3:46.79 5 Thomas Florschütz GER-3 4 3:41.51
6 Friedrich/Baecker GER-1 4 3:46.85 6 Beat Hefti SUI-1 11 3:41.75
7 Rush/Brown CAN-1 7 3:46.88 7 Lyndon Rush CAN-2 9 3:41.76
8 Peter/Egger SUI-2 14 3:46.96 8 Francesco Friedrich GER-2 8 3:41.80
9 Florschütz/Kuske GER-2 8 3:47.00 9 Edwin Van Calker NED-1 14 3:42.69
10 Butner/Fogt USA-2 5 3:47.17 10 Nick Cunningham USA-2 13 3:42.70
11 Cunningham/Robinson USA-3 6 3:47.69 11 Christopher Spring CAN-1 5 3:42.84
12 Bertazzo/Fontana ITA-1 16 3:47.82 12 Oskars Kibermanis LAT-2 16 3:42.98
13 Arndt/Rödiger GER-3 11 3:48.20 13 Nikita Zakharov RUS-3 15 3:43.06
14 Kibermanis/Leiboms LAT-2 15 3:48.52 14 Jan Vrba CZE-1 19 3:43.17
15 Istrate/Craicun ROU-1 22 3:48.98 15 Loic Costerg FRA-1 22 3:43.18
16 Won/Seo KOR-1 17 3:49.27 16 Simone Bertazzo ITA-1 17 3:43.45
17 Van Calker/van der Zijde NED-1 23 3:49.33 17 Lamin Deen GBR-2 18 3:43.52
18 Costerg/Heinrich FRA-1 18 3:49.36 18 Yonjong Won KOR-1 21 3:44.22
19 Servelle/Gattuso MON-1 21 2:52.60 19 Benjamin Maier AUT-1 24 2:48.63
20 Maier/Sammer AUT-1 19 2:52.72 20 Heath Spence AUS-1 23 2:48.64
21 Deen/Baines GBR-1 25 2:52.73 21 Thibault Alexis Godefroy FRA-2 30 2:48.99
22 Vrba/Vacek CZE-1 30 2:53.18 22 Andreas Neagu ROU-1 25 2:49.03
23 Kim/Jun KOR-2 20 2:53.27 23 Milan Jagnesak SVK-1 28 2:49.44
24 Spence/Harvey AUS-1 27 2:53.73 24 Hiroshi Suzuki JPN-1 20 2:49.46
25 Kupczyk/Mroz POL-1 26 2:53.95 25 Dawid Kupczyk POL-1 26 2:49.49
26 Suzuki/Miyazaki JPN-1 24 2:54.14 26 Donghyun Kim KOR-2 29 2:50.64
27 Watts/Dixon JAM-1 28 2:55.40 27 Edson Bindilatti BRA-1 27 2:50.71
28 Radjenovic/Bundalo SRB-1 29 DNS 28 Justin Kripps CAN-3 10 2:50.80
DSQ Zubkov/Voevoda RUS-1 3 3:45.39 DSQ Alexsandr Zubkov RUS-1 3 3:40.60
DSQ Kasjanov/Belugin RUS-2 13 3:46.30 DSQ Alexander Kasjanov RUS-2 6 3:41.02


Full IOC Decisions in PDF form below:
IOC Decision on Alexander Kasjanov
IOC Decision on Alexey Pushkarev
IOC Decision on Ilvir Khuzin