An Italian bobsledder and a German biathlete were expelled from the Winter Olympics for using performance-enhancing drugs in Sochi on Friday. Germany's Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had already competed in five biathlon events in Sochi, performing well in each but never medaling. Italy's William Frullani was supposed to take part in the four-man bobsled contest that begins Saturday.
The bans are the first known violations for doping of the 2014 games, according to the New York Times. The two athletes were reportedly given the drug tests they failed on Tuesday. The banned substance or substances they tested positive for were not revealed.
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The two athletes are not being forced to leave Sochi, but their Olympic identifications have been revoked and the governing bodies of their respective sports could take additional action. Sachenbacher-Stehle is now officially disqualified from the events she already participated in, while Frullani will be replaced by an alternate on the Italian bobsled team for this weekend's competition.
Biathlon has a particularly spotty history when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, according to the Times, which reports that Sachenbacher-Stehle is "the fourth biathlete to test positive for doping in recent weeks, the latest wave of offenses in an Olympic sport that has long been plagued with doping violations." Biathlon is the sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting, the one you've probably had little success understanding at all these past two weeks.
Sachenbacher-Stehle denied the charges in a press statement.
“I am living through my worst nightmare right now,” she said. “I cannot explain to myself where the positive sample generated from.”
Frullani is a former decathlete who switched to bobsled in 2012, according to the games' official site. He had yet to address the allegations at time of this writing.
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