28 Russian Athletes Win Appeals of Doping Bans (NYT)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Thursday that there was insufficient evidence that the athletes — including some medal winners — breached antidoping regulations at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Russia celebrated the ruling. A state-backed sports broadcaster aired the nearly two-hour cross-country ski race won in 2014 by Alexander Legkov, one of the athletes whose appeal was upheld.
“We insisted from the very start that our athletes are not involved in any doping schemes, and, of course, we are now just happy that their honest name has been reinstated by court and all their awards have been returned to them,” said Alexander Zhukov, head of the Russian Olympic Committee.