ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - International Biathlon Union (IBU) bans Russian athlete Olga Pyleva for two years after she tested positive for drugs
Record ID:
331733
ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - International Biathlon Union (IBU) bans Russian athlete Olga Pyleva for two years after she tested positive for drugs
- Title: ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - International Biathlon Union (IBU) bans Russian athlete Olga Pyleva for two years after she tested positive for drugs
- Date: 18th February 2006
- Summary: TURIN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 17, 2006) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS SURROUNDING INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON UNION PRESIDENT ANDERS BESSEBERG MAKING ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT BANNED RUSSIAN BIATHLETE OLGA PYLEVA (SOUNDBITE)(English) INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON UNION PRESIDENT ANDERS BESSEBERG SAYING: "We have had a hearing with the athlete and the doctor involved, earlier in the morning today and the executive board of IBU has decided to give the two years ban for both of them" (SOUNDBITE)(English)BESSEBERG SAYING: "I would say that this was not a difficult case, I would say an easy case" (SOUNDBITE)(English) BESSEBERG SAYING: "I would say that it is uninteresting what we are believing or not believing. It's a positive doping case which is of such a kind that the normal ban is two years. So she got the normal ban, the maximum ban of two years for this case"
- Embargoed: 5th March 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA8PK7019FA7XLKYQ38578NI1J4
- Story Text: The International Biathlon Union (IBU) on Friday (February 17) banned Russian athlete Olga Pyleva for two years after she tested positive for drugs at the Turin Winter Olympics.
"We have had the hearing with the athlete and we spoke to her doctor this morning. The IBU has decided to give a two-year ban to both of them," IBU President Anders Besseberg said in Turin.
Besseberg told journalists on Thursday: "I would say that it is uninteresting what we are believing or not believing. It's a positive doping case which is of such a kind that the normal ban is two years. So she got the normal ban, the maximum ban of two years for this case."
Pyleva, who won the 15-km individual biathlon silver medal, said she had simply taken medicine prescribed by her doctor for pain relief.
The athlete will be questioned by Italian magistrates because use of banned substances is a criminal offence in Italy.
Pyleva was stripped of her medal and Olympic accreditation and was forced out of the athletes village. She said she would remain in Italy for the time being and did not yet know when she would leave.
Her private doctor, Nina Vinogradova, blamed the Russian pharmaceutical company, saying she had prescribed the right medicine which was approved by the drug's manufacturer. But Russia's biathlon chief shifted the blame on the doctor.
A gold medallist in the 10-km pursuit at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Pyleva tested positive for carphedon, a prohibited stimulant, on February 13 after her 15-km race.
Speaking before the ban was announced, she told journalists: "I want to say that I have never intentionally used any banned substances. It is a huge and horrible mistake, I don't have enough words to explain it. I was taking pills to have pain relief in my leg. Those pills were produced by Schelkovski vitamin manufacture in Russia and those pills were not listed as banned medicine.
"I am not blaming my doctor, who is very experienced and I trust her. We have just become victims of a pharmaceutical company."
Pyleva said she hoped the International Olympic Committee would "rethink" its decision because she did not consider herself guilty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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