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         IOC sanctions Latvian men’s ice hockey player Vitalijs Pavlovs for failing anti-doping test at Sochi 2014

22/02/2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that men’s ice hockey player Vitalijs Pavlovs of Latvia has been excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Pavlovs, 24, tested positive on 19 February for methylhexaneamine (dimethylpentylamine).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel and Gunilla Lindberg, decided the following:
I.          The Athlete, Mr Vitalijs Pavlovs, Latvia, Ice Hockey, is disqualified from the Men’s Play-offs Quarterfinals – Canada vs Latvia match.    
II.          The Athlete shall be excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, and shall have his Olympic identity and accreditation card immediately cancelled.
III.         The Athlete’s diploma (for placing 8th) be withdrawn.
IV.        The International Ice Hockey Federation is hereby requested to make appropriate mention of the above in the record of the sports results, and to consider whether it should take any further action within its competence.
V.         The Latvian Olympic Committee is hereby requested to return to the IOC, as soon as possible, the diploma awarded to the athlete in relation to the above-mentioned event.
VI.        This decision shall enter into force immediately.
Under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, testing takes place under the IOC's auspices from 30 January (the date of the opening of the Olympic Villages) to 23 February 2014 (the date of the Closing Ceremony). Within that period, the IOC systematically performs tests before and after events. After each event, the IOC systematically carries out tests on the top five finishers plus two at random. The IOC also performs out-of-competition unannounced tests. Over the course of the Sochi Games, the IOC is expected to carry out some 2,453 tests – 1,944 urine and 509 blood.
The full decision is available here.

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For all other questions, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +79384547976, e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.
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To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: images@olympic.org.   
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IOC sanctions Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor for failing anti-doping test at Sochi 2014

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

         IOC sanctions Italian bobsleigher Frullani for failing anti-doping test at Sochi 2014

©IOC

22/02/2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that bobsleigher William Frullani of Italy has been excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Frullani, 34, tested positive on 18 February for methylhexaneamine (dimethylpentylamine).
The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel and Gunilla Lindberg, decided the following:
I. The Athlete, Mr William Frullani, Italy, Bobsleigh:
(i) is excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014; and
(ii) shall have his Olympic identity and accreditation card cancelled immediately.
II. The International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT) is requested to consider any further action within its own competence.
III. The Italian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
IV. This decision shall enter into force immediately.
Under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, testing takes place under the IOC's auspices from 30 January (the date of the opening of the Olympic Villages) to 23 February 2014 (the date of the Closing Ceremony). Within that period, the IOC systematically performs tests before and after events. After each event, the IOC systematically carries out tests on the top five finishers plus two at random. The IOC also performs out-of-competition unannounced tests. Over the course of the Sochi Games, the IOC is expected to carry out some 2,453 tests – 1,944 urine and 509 blood.
The full decision is available here.

###

For all other questions, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +79384547976, e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.
VideosYouTube: www.youtube.com/iocmedia
 
PhotosFor an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on Flickr.
To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: images@olympic.org.
Social media
For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Order of Marit: Storming Bjørgen tops all-Norwegian podium and all-time women’s medal rankings

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22/02/2014

Marit Bjørgen claimed gold in the women’s 30km mass start, leading home a Norwegian clean sweep of the podium places and taking her place in the Olympic pantheon as one of the most successful female Winter Games athletes of all time.

Bjørgen crossed the line in 1 hour 11 minutes 5.2 seconds, with Therese Johaug finishing 2.6 seconds later to claim silver.
Their compatriot Kristin Størmer Steira came in third, a further 21.0 seconds for bronze, thus completing a Norwegian 1-2-3.
The chasing pack was headed by Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen who finished fourth and almost a full minute off the podium.
The wily Bjørgen timed her race to perfection, coming from behind to overtake Johaug on the final climb and take her Sochi gold tally to three, following earlier wins in the skiathlon and team sprint.

“It's incredible,” said a delighted Bjørgen at the finish. “We're all Norwegian and we're all on the podium. This has been a goal for me for a long time.
“I thought the 30km would be hard but I've felt very good in the last days.”
Golden girl
The 33-year-old, known as “Gull-Marit” (“Golden Marit”) in her home country, now boasts six Olympic golds in total – putting her on a par with speed skater Lidia Skoblikova (URS) and fellow cross-country skier Lyubov Yegorova (URS).
She also now has 10 medals overall accumulated during four appearances at the Winter Games; it is a tally only matched by two other women: fellow cross-country skiers Raisa Smetanina (URS) and Stefania Belmondo (ITA).

Nordic nous
The Norwegian trio had dominated from early, breaking free from the pack at the 10km mark.
They then raced in compact formation, taking it in turns to lead, with each racer dropping back into the slipstream, all three conserved their energy for the final push.
In the last few kilometres FIS World Cup leader Johaug made a break for it. Bjørgen stayed on her shoulder, as Steiria faded and fell back.
It was now a two-woman race, and was all about which of the two heavyweights could squeeze out a last burst of energy and inspiration. The final ascent proved decisive, as Bjørgen kicked on, overtaking Johaug, who could not muster a meaningful response.
Waxing lyrical
Earlier in the tournament the Norwegian team had complained of problems with their skis, and had finished a disappointing fifth in the relay.
But they had clearly put such concerns behind them in this race, with all three frontrunners foregoing the customary option to swap their skis at the 20km mark.
“It means a lot to the team,” said Johaug. “We have come back from the relay. We knew we were stronger than that. We had very good skis, the waxing team did a great job.”
“We weren't that good in the relay so we showed today that we are the best,” added Bjørgen, who now has every right to be regarded as the best on an individual basis too.
In the course of four appearances at the Winter Games, the Norwegian has now secured a podium finish over every distance on the Olympic programme contested by women, underlining her credentials as the best female all-rounder of all time.

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Park takes women’s 1,000m short track title to leave Sochi with two golds

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21/02/2014

The Republic of Korea’s Park Seung-Hi won gold in the women's 1,000m short track to take her overall medal tally at Sochi 2014 to three, adding to her bronze in the 500m and team gold in the 3,000m relay.

The 21-year-old crossed the line in 1 minute 30.761 seconds to edge out China's Fan Kexin (1:30.811), who took silver, while another Korean Shim Suk-Hee won bronze (1:31.027).

Park came from behind to overtake early frontrunner Jessica Smith of the USA, and then bossed the remainder of the race.
She now has five Olympic medals, including bronze in the women's 500m in Sochi. Only China’s Yang Yang has won more in the women’s short-track.
It completed a successful senior Olympic debut for Shim, who won gold in the 500m at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 2012.
The 17-year old leaves Sochi with three medals, one of each colour. As well as helping the Korean team to gold in the 3,000m relay, she also took silver in the women’s 1,500m.
Park, who trains with Shim, said she was delighted to be sharing the podium with the teenager.
“Fortunately, we were able to do really well,” she said. “We have been practising the whole season together and it paid off.”

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Fire on ice – Unstoppable An strikes double gold to rewrite the short-track record books

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21/02/2014

In a night of high drama at the Iceberg Skating Palace, short track speed skater Victor An won two Olympic golds within the space of an hour, adding the 500m individual and 5,000m relay titles to the 1,000m he won in the first week at Sochi 2014. He now has six Olympic golds in total.

The Russian skater’s first medal of the night came in the men’s individual 500m, in which he had to skate his way from the back to secure victory.
Minutes later he hooked up with the rest of the Russian quartet for the 5,000m relay, and duly anchored them to a new Olympic record time, which was just good enough to edge out the Americans.
“This has been the best experience of my sporting career and I will never forget Sochi,” said an overjoyed An as he reacted to his latest triumphs.
“Before the competitions started, I just wanted to concentrate on doing my best and show what I could be on the Olympic stage,” added the 28-year-old.

He certainly did that. Over the past two weeks the Russian has set the ice on fire on way to his three golds in Sochi with a series of high-octane performances that have combined dazzling speed, razor-sharp tactics, and no shortage of courage.
In the 500m, An showcased his brilliance to the full, somehow managing to liberate himself from last position, where he had been stuck for much of the final.
Then, with two laps remaining, he calmly moved into second place, before sweeping past China's Wu Dajing at the start of the final lap to cross the line first in 41.312 seconds.
Wu took silver in 41.516 seconds, while surprise finalist Charles Cournoyer of Canada won bronze in 41.617 seconds.

Just minutes later, An lined up alongside his Russian team-mates Semen Elistratov, Vladimir Grigorev and Ruslan Zakharov for the men’s 5,000m relay final to take on a strong field that included USA, China and the Netherlands.
Relay record
The Russians bossed the race, clocking an aggregate time of 6 minutes 42.100 seconds to finish just fractions ahead of the USA quartet (Eddy Alvarez, J.R. Celski, Chris Creveling and Jordan Malone) on 6 minutes 42.371 seconds.
China finished over six seconds off the pace for the bronze. Underlining the strength of Russia’s performance, the Dutch team could only finish fourth, over seven seconds behind the winners.
An’s gold in the relay meant that he is now also the first short-track skater in history to complete a “full-house” of medals, with golds in all four Olympic distances: 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m (which he won at Turin 2006), and the 5,000m relay.
In addition to his six golds, he also boasts two bronze medals (1,500m at Sochi 2014 and 500m at Turin 2006). His overall medal haul of eight is also a joint Olympic record, matched on by US skater Apolo Anton Ohno.
“I'm happy to have tied the record for medals in short track,” An concluded.
“I’m just very happy we were able to win a medal as a team. I wanted one thing tonight, which was for all of us to be smiling together.”

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Thompson wins women’s ski cross to complete Canada’s freestyle gold rush in Sochi

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21/02/2014

Marielle Thompson narrowly edged out compatriot Kelsey Serwa to win the Olympic women's ski cross title and hand Canada its third gold-silver combo in the freestyle skiing events at Sochi 2014.

Sweden’s Anna Holmlund took bronze after 37-year-old French veteran Ophélie David crashed out of medal contention, ending her bid to become the oldest ever Winter Olympic gold medallist.
“I'm really glad our freestyle team has been so successful here. It's so great that we can finish it off with a bang,” said Thompson, whose gold after Canada also had one-twos in both men's and women's moguls.
Serwa, the 2011 world champion, added: "It's the water. We just have a really good programme and we're really supportive of each other and push each other.
"We've been watching each other all week and getting fired up every time Canada gets on the podium."
Thompson and Serwa seized control of the race from the start, and their one-two ensured that Canada finish top of the freestyle skiing table with four golds, one more than the USA.

For Thompson, women's World Cup champion in 2011/12, the taste of victory was made all the more sweet by the presence of her friend and team-mate on the podium.
“I'm really, really excited, I'm so glad I get to share this moment with Kelsey up here,” she enthused.
“It's amazing for our country. I'm so proud I could bring it home to Canada and keep it in Canada,” added Thompson, who took the title won by her compatriot Ashleigh McIvor at Vancouver 2010.
Anything can happen
For Serwa it was a remarkable turnaround, as she very nearly missed out on the final, after trailing at the back of her semi-final until the last jump.
Only a slip by reigning world champion Fanny Smith of Switzerland, who had been leading semi-final until losing her balance, allowed the Canadian to progress.
“In ski cross anything can happen. I never give up until I cross the finish line,” said Serwa.
“That was just one of the works that was in play there.I was in fourth out of the start and all the way down to the last turn.
“[Smith] fell in front of me so I avoided her and at that point it was just a race to the line.”

First for Sweden
Meanwhile, Holmlund won Sweden's first ever medal in ski cross and their first in freestyle skiing for 20 years.
“It's really special to get the first medal in ski cross for Sweden. It's a good beginning for us," said the 26-year old.
“Of course you want to win a medal, but the competition is really hard. It was harder and harder for every race. I still haven’t taken in the fact that I have a bronze medal,” she added.