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IOC Bans 11 More Russian Athletes For Life

Luger Albert Demchenko is one of 11 Russian athletes whom the International Olympic Committee banned for life on Friday. He will be stripped of the two silver medals he won at the 2014 Sochi Games.
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Luger Albert Demchenko is one of 11 Russian athletes whom the International Olympic Committee banned for life on Friday. He will be stripped of the two silver medals he won at the 2014 Sochi Games.

The International Olympic Committee says it is banning 11 of Russian athletes for life as part of its investigation into doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Ruling on the last 11 of the 46 cases it has been investigating, the IOC said all were now disqualified from the Sochi Games. The IOC has now banned 43 Russian athletes and stripped 13 medals from the country, according to NBC Sports. Three of the 46 were cleared.

The 11 athletes sanctioned Friday compete in five sports:

  • Lugers Tatiana Ivanova and Albert Demchenko
  • Speed skaters Ivan Skobrev and Artem Kuznetcov
  • Cross-country skiers Nikita Kryukov, Alexander Bessmertnykh and Natalia Matveeva
  • Bobsledders Liudmila Udobkina and Maxim Belugin
  • Ice hockey players Tatiana Burina and Anna Shchukina
  • The sanctions mean that Russia has lost two more medals from its Sochi count. Ivanova and Demchenko had captured a silver in the mixed relay event, and Demchenko had won an individual silver medal.

    Two of the cross-country skiers, Kryukov and Bessmertnykh, had already lost medals when their teammates were disqualified, The Associated Press reports.

    Russia is banned from having an official presence at the upcoming 2018 Pyeongchang Games, as punishment for its widespread doping at the Sochi Games.

    Some 200 athletes from Russia may still compete at the Olympics under a neutral flag. They are barred from wearing uniforms in the colors of the Russian flag, and they'll sport generic red-and-white logos that say "Olympic Athlete from Russia."

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Laurel Wamsley is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She reports breaking news for NPR's digital coverage, newscasts, and news magazines, as well as occasional features. She was also the lead reporter for NPR's coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.