Former biathlete Martin Fourcade should recover a sixth Olympic title after the cancellation on Tuesday of all the results of Russian Evgeny Ustyugov between 2010 and 2014 and thus become the most successful Frenchman at the Olympic Games, summer and winter combined.
Martin Fourcade finished second in the mass start event at the 2010 Vancouver Games behind Evgeny Ustyugov, whose appeal was rejected on Tuesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The CAS Appeals Chamber upheld the findings of the Anti-Doping Chamber of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAD CAS) which established that Mr. Ustyugov committed a violation of anti-doping regulations on the basis of anomalies identified in his passport biological”, declared the Biathlon Integrity Unit in a press release, referring to a first instance decision dating from October 2020.
“As a result of these findings, Mr. Ustyugov was sanctioned with a period of suspension of four years. In addition, all competitive results obtained by Mr. Ustyugov between January 24, 2010 and his retirement at the end of the 2013/2014 season are invalidated, including the associated medals, points and prizes. This includes the results obtained at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games,” the statement said.
“Mr Ustyugov may appeal this decision to the Swiss Federal Court (TFS). However, such appeals are only permitted for limited procedural reasons.”
With a sixth Olympic coronation obtained over three different editions (one in 2010, two in 2014 and three in 2018), Martin Fourcade would then become the most successful French athlete at the Olympic Games ahead of Teddy Riner, who won this summer in Paris his fifth gold medal.
Retired in 2020, the former biathlete is seeking the presidency of the Organizing Committee for the 2030 Winter Olympic Games allocated to the French Alps.
(Written by Vincent Daheron, edited by Blandine Hénault)
