Doping-related cases among Russian athletes are still a possibility at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, though their preliminary tests proved negative in Moscow, a senior sports doctor said.
"Before going to the Olympics all athletes undergo a three- or four-staged [doping] test in laboratories. But unfortunately the experience of previous Olympic Games casts doubt that the athletes who left our country 'clean' will continue behaving the same way [there]," Igor Vykhodets, a senior medical official at the Russian Medical Biological Agency, said.
His statement comes in the wake of Russian female skier Alyona Sidko's disqualification over doping-use charges.
The Russian skiing federation has disqualified Sidko, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, for two years and excluded her from the national Olympic team after she tested positive for the use of doping at a Russian skiing competition last month.
Russian athletes have been recently plagued by doping-related cases and subsequent disqualifications. Last month, the International Ski Federation (FIS) alone disqualified two Russian female skiers, Yulia Chepalova and Natalia Matveyeva, on accusations of doping use.
Before the opening of the 2008 Olympics in China, seven Russian female athletes were disqualified from the Games after they were ruled to have switched urine samples before tests for performance-enhancing drugs.
The problem of performance-enhancing drugs was raised at the state level by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last February, who urged tougher penalties for those athletes using drugs and proposed establishing a state doping control system.
MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti)
