Doping: Russian skating duo banned from Olympics

MOSCOW: Russian skaters Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin have been banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Games, the Russian figure skating federation said in a statement on Tuesday, citing the country’s Olympic Committee.

“According to information from the Russian Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee without giving any reason has not permitted members of the Russian figure skating team Ksenia Stolbova (pairs) and Ivan Bukin (ice dance) to participate in the 2018 Winter Games in Korea,” the statement said.

Stolbova along with her partner Fedor Klimov took silver in the European Championships in Moscow last week and the pair were also second at the Sochi Winter Games in 2014. Bukin won bronze with his partner Alexandra Stepanova at the latest European Championships.

The statement came after the Russian Olympic Committee said earlier on Tuesday that short track speed skating star Victor An had likewise been banned. The Russian figure skating federation in its statement on Stolbova and Bukin condemned what it branded a “groundless and absurd decision” that “breaches all the basic norms laid out in the Olympic charter”. The federation said it was “outraged” by a decision that it said seemed to be an act of “provocation” aimed at “forcing Russian athletes by any means not to participate in the Games”.”