The Catalan biathlete could recover the 2010 mass start Olympic title, won at the time by the Russian Evgeny Ustyugov, whose appeal against his sanction for doping was rejected on Tuesday November 26.
French biathlete Martin Fourcade moved closer to a sixth Olympic title after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Russian Evgeny Ustyugov's appeal against his sanction for doping, the International Biathlon Federation (IBU) said ) Tuesday.
Gold medalist in the mass start ahead of Fourcade in 2010 in Vancouver, Ustyugov appealed the CAS decision at the end of 2020, which imposed a four-year suspension on him and the cancellation of all of his results obtained between January 24 2010 and the end of his career, four years later. This sanction notably had the effect of depriving him of two Olympic medals won at the Vancouver Games in 2010, the bronze shared with the Russian men's relay being added to the gold in the mass start.
The only French athlete with the most titles at the Olympics
“The CAS Appeals Chamber upheld the findings of the CAS Anti-Doping Chamber, which established that Mr Ustyugov had committed a violation of anti-doping regulations on the basis of anomalies identified in the athlete's biological passport”writes the IBU. But, as a last resort, the former Russian biathlete “can appeal this decision to the Swiss federal court”exclusively on “limited procedural grounds”specifies the international federation.
If his sanction was definitively confirmed, it should offer Fourcade years later one more Olympic title, the sixth of his career ending in 2020. It would make the French biathlon star, who made his voice heard against doping with Constance, the most successful French athlete in history at the Olympic Games, ahead of Teddy Riner (5). Fourcade, 36, who became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2022, is currently seeking the presidency of the future organizing committee for the 2030 Olympic Games assigned to the French Alps.
