Doping
09.08.2023
IOC will not investigate Sotnikova doping comments, South Korean official claims
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not investigate comments by Russia's Sochi 2014 Olympic figure skating champion Adelina Sotnikova despite calls to do so in South Korea, it has been claimed.
Sotnikova took women's singles gold at her home Winter Olympics nine years ago, becoming the first Russian athlete to win the prestigious event.
In a since deleted YouTube video on the Tatarka FM channel, the now-retired Sotnikova claimed she returned a positive doping test in 2014 before being cleared by her B-sample.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had wanted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate the remarks.
South Korea's Kim Yu-na had been denied gold by Sotnikova's performance, although many observers questioned the scoring and judging and felt she should have won the event.
However, an unnamed KSOC official told South Korean news agency Yonhap the IOC had dismissed its calls for an inquiry.
"The IOC said Sotnikova had tested negative with her A sample in 2014, and that it didn't identify any anti-doping rule violation by Sotnikova during an extensive testing of Russian athletes in 2017," the official said.
"Now that the IOC has said Sotnikova never tested positive with her A sample, it will be difficult for us to lodge a complaint."
Sotnikova took women's singles gold at her home Winter Olympics nine years ago, becoming the first Russian athlete to win the prestigious event.
In a since deleted YouTube video on the Tatarka FM channel, the now-retired Sotnikova claimed she returned a positive doping test in 2014 before being cleared by her B-sample.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had wanted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate the remarks.
South Korea's Kim Yu-na had been denied gold by Sotnikova's performance, although many observers questioned the scoring and judging and felt she should have won the event.
However, an unnamed KSOC official told South Korean news agency Yonhap the IOC had dismissed its calls for an inquiry.
"The IOC said Sotnikova had tested negative with her A sample in 2014, and that it didn't identify any anti-doping rule violation by Sotnikova during an extensive testing of Russian athletes in 2017," the official said.
"Now that the IOC has said Sotnikova never tested positive with her A sample, it will be difficult for us to lodge a complaint."
The Sochi 2014 women's singles figure skating event has long been a source of controversy, with many observers believing Kim Yu-na of South Korea was wrongly denied gold ©Getty Images
Sotnikova had been named in the World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned report by Canadian lawyer Professor Richard McLaren in December 2016 as one athlete about whom scratches indicative of tampering were found on test tubes in which urine samples were submitted.
However, she was cleared of any wrongdoing by the IOC in November 2017.
Former Moscow laboratory director turned whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, the main witness in the McLaren Report, had claimed Sotnikova was not part of the programme.
Sotnikova officially retired in March 2020.
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