Russian national team loses its first place at Sochi Winter Olympics

Today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has deprived four Russian athletes of their medals won at the 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi, stating that they had violated the anti-doping rules. After cancellation of their results, the Russian team lost the first place in the medal standing of the Games.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2014 the Russian team took the first place in the medal standing of the Games-2014 with 33 won medals.

Today, the IOC has announced the deprivation of Alexander Zubkov, currently the head of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation of his two gold medals of the Sochi Olympics for violating the anti-doping rules. The athlete is also prohibited from taking part in the Olympics for the rest of his life.

A similar punishment was appointed to three other Russian athletes.

After the deprivation of medals and annulment of the results, the Russian national team dropped into the third place in the medal standing, after the teams of Norway and Canada, the TASS reports.

Vladimir Grigoriev, an Olympic Champion in the short track relay race at the Sochi Olympics, asserts that the IOC's decision is politically motivated. He is sure that the majority of Russian athletes had never consumed illegal drugs, the RBC (RosBusinessConsulting) reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.