Competitors at the Olympic Games have used banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs.
Maxim Mikhailovich Vylegzhanin is a Russian former cross country skier and a three-time Olympic silver medalist at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in 50 km freestyle, 4 × 10 km relay and team sprint. He was stripped of his 2014 Olympic medals by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 9 November 2017, however on 1 February 2018, his results were restored as a result of the successful appeal.
Nikita Valeryevich Kryukov is a Russian former cross-country skier who competed internationally between 2006 and 2018. He was a sprint specialist who won an Olympic gold medal, three World Championship gold medals, six World cup gold medals, all in the sprint events. He was arguably the fastest skier ever when it came to double-poling on the flat in sprints. He generally favoured classic skiing and classic sprints over freestyle, but as he showed in winning the team sprint in the 2013 World Championship, in Val di Fiemme, he was also very strong in the freestyle sprint.
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February. A total of 2,873 athletes from 88 nations participated in 98 events in 7 sports across 15 different disciplines.
Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai from 7 to 23 February 2014 and was the top medal recipient at those Games. As hosts, Russia participated in all 15 sports, with a team consisting of 232 athletes. It is Russia's largest Winter Olympics team to date.
Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. The eleven events took place between 8–22 February 2014.
Cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. The twelve events took place between 8–23 February 2014.
Latvia competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Latvian team consisted of 58 athletes in nine sports. These were the third consecutive games the country qualified to send 58 athletes.
Poland competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Polish team consisted of 59 athletes in 11 sports, which was the largest ever Polish team, surpassing the 56 athletes that competed in 1972. With 4 gold medals won, this was the most successful Winter Olympics for Poland in its history.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The British team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, whose athletes may have elected to hold Irish citizenship, allowing them to represent either Great Britain or Ireland. Additionally some British overseas territories competed separately from Britain in Olympic competition. A total of 56 athletes competed in 11 sports making it the biggest contingent that Great Britain had sent to a Winter Olympic Games for twenty-six years.
Ukraine competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine sent a total of 43 athletes.
The Women's 4 x 6 kilometre relay biathlon competition of the Sochi 2014 Olympics was held at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex on 21 February 2014.
The Women's 7.5 km sprint biathlon competition of the Sochi 2014 Olympics took place at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex on 9 February 2014. It was won by Anastasiya Kuzmina from Slovakia, who was the defending champion. Olga Vilukhina from Russia won the silver medal, and Vita Semerenko from Ukraine won the bronze. Semerenko had competed in this event at the Olympics but never previously won an Olympic medal.
The women's 10 km pursuit biathlon competition of the Sochi 2014 Olympics was held at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex on 11 February 2014.
The men's team sprint cross-country skiing competition in the classical technique at the 2014 Sochi Olympics took place on 19 February at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex. The race was won by Finland's Iivo Niskanen and Sami Jauhojärvi, followed by Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin and Nikita Kriukov second and Sweden's Emil Jönsson and Teodor Peterson third. Teamed up with Hannes Dotzler, Germany's anchor Tim Tscharnke clashed with Jauhojärvi's skis in the last leg, as Jauhojärvi changed his line. The results were protested by Germany, but the protest was rejected and the results were confirmed. Yelena Välbe, president of the Russian Ski Federation, told reporters: "Finland should be disqualified but the protest has already been rejected".
The men's 50 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2014 Sochi Olympics took place on 23 February at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex.
The women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2014 Sochi Olympics took place on 15 February at Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex. Sweden won the event. This became the first gold medal in the women's relay for Sweden since the 1960 Winter Olympics. Finland won the silver medals, and Germany finished third.
Yuliya Anatoliyevna Ivanova is a Russian cross-country skier. She competed at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo, and at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme.
Evgeniy Nikolayevich Belov is a cross-country skier from Russia.
Kateryna Serdiuk is a Ukrainian cross-country skier.
