Medalist Caught Doping

We had another first at the Winter Olympics today. The first athlete caught doping and forced to give up their medal. (A Brazilian bobsledder was the first athlete caught doping and sent home from the Olympics, but before they had a chance to compete.)

Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was withdrawn from today’s 7.5km sprint and forced to give up the silver medal that she had won on Monday in the 15km event.

Pyleva’s urine test, which was administered immediately after Monday’s event, showed the banned stimulant carphedon. A representative of the Russian anti-doping committee stated that Pyleva took the stimulant unknowingly; it was an unlisted ingredient in an over-the-counter medication that she was told to take by a physician for an ankle injury.

International Olympic Committee rules state that testing positive for a banned substance at the Olympics results automatically in the athlete being guilty, regardless of the circumstances behind why the athlete too the substance to begin with.

With Pyleva’s silver medal being vacated, Martina Glagow of Germany moves from being the bronze medalist to the silver medalist. Russia’s Albina Akhatova, and Pyleva's teammate, moves from being in 4th place to being a bronze medalist.