In the Russian doping scandal, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also suspended former bobsleigh pilot Alexander Subkow for life. The two-time winner of the 2014 Winter Games and acting President of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation must also return his gold medals won in Sochi.
This was announced by the IOC on Friday, and it also announced that it would be banned from participating in three other Russian Olympic Games. Initially, the IOC did not give any reasons for the judgement.
Subkov had won gold in the two-man and four-man competitions in Sochi, but the 43-year-old’s penalty against Russia has now taken the first place in the medal table of the 2014 games. Only nine gold medals are left for the host, Norway (11) and Canada (10).
In addition to Subkow, the IOC also blocked speed skater Olga Fatkulina, in Sochi second in the 500 m sprint, as well as bobsleigh driver Olga Stulnewa (9th) and speed skater Alexander Rumyanzew (11th over 5000 m) for life for the Olympic Games. As a result, German athletes do not advance to medal ranks.
Among other things, Sochi Olympic champion Alexander Tretyakov had already been banned for life in the Skeleton, and the 32-year-old was also deprived of his medal. Prior to that, the IOC cross-country Olympic champion Alexander Legkov and his team mate Yevgeny Belov had withdrawn from the Olympic circuit in all functions.
Executive member Denis Oswald’s IOC commission, which is responsible for sanctioning the 28 suspected Russian Sochi starters referred to in the McLaren report (including twelve medal winners), is currently taking tough action.
The lock against Subkow is now particularly piquant and marks a further cut. The double Olympic gold medallist had become a folk hero in Sochi and had finished his career in the same year.
In the summer of 2016, he was elected to the highest office in Russian bobsleigh sport, despite the long public accusations of doping. He always rejected the accusations about Russian state doping and spoke of “slander”.