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Russian drug cheats will miss Vancouver and Sochi after CAS uphold bans
November 13 - Russian biathletes Albina Akhatova and Ekaterina Iourieva (pictured) will both miss the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics in Vancouver after they today both lost their appeal against two-year doping bans.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the suspensions imposed in August by the International Biathlon Union (IBU) after they tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug Erythropoietin (EPO).
Akhatova, winner of five Olympic medals, including a gold at Turin in 2006 who turned 33 today, and 2008 world champion Iourieva, 26, tested positive last December at a World Cup event in Ostersund, Sweden.
The IBU suspended them from the World Championships in Pyeongchang last February, and later imposed two-year bans.
The sanctions run through December 2010, excluding Akhatova and Iourieva from the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Under International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules, they are also banned from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
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