Four Russian athletes in the skeleton winter discipline, including reigning Olympic champion Alexandr Tretiakov, have been banned for life from the Olympics after being found guilty of doping at the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.
It means that Latvia's world champion Martins Dukurs should move from silver to gold in the record books and that his brother Tomass, who finished fourth, should now be recorded as the bronze medal winner.
Tretiakov was "found to have committed anti-doping rule violations pursuant to Article 2 of The International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, in 2014."
The IOC statement about Tretiakov (attached) says he is "disqualified from the events in which he participated upon the occasion of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, in 2014, namely the Men’s Individual Skeleton Event, in which he ranked 1st and for which he was awarded a gold medal, a medallist pin and a diploma... and is ordered to return the same to the International Olympic Committee."
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation is then requested by the IOC to "modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence," which should mean the medals are re-assigned to the Dukurs brothers - though as Latvian Radio's sports department quickly pointed out, with Russian state owned Gazprom a major sponsor of the Federation, it will be interesting to watch exactly what action it decides to take.
Matthew Antoine of the USA is also in mile to have his bronze changed to silver. Congratulations to all the clean athletes, whatever happens next.
