Oswald Commission

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The Oswald Commission was a disciplinary commission of the International Olympic Committee ("IOC"), chaired by IOC member Denis Oswald. It was responsible for investigating and ruling on doping violations by individual Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Contents

By December 2017, the commission had banned 43 athletes from the Olympics for life, and retroactively disqualified them from their Sochi Olympic events with 13 medals being stripped. 30 of the 43 athletes later successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and had their sanctions overturned; and another 12 had their doping rulings confirmed, but had their lifetime bans commuted to bans for only the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. [1] [2] One athlete did not appeal. The IOC banned Russia from competing at Pyeongchang as a result of the scandal, instead inviting 169 Russian athletes to compete as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" under the Olympic flag rather than under the Russian flag. [2]

Background

Media attention began growing in December 2014 when German broadcaster ARD aired the documentary "Top Secret Doping: How Russia makes its Winners", alleging the existence of a sophisticated, state-sponsored doping system within the All-Russia Athletic Federation, and comparing it to doping in East Germany. [3] In November 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a report and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia indefinitely from world track and field events. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping agency later assisted WADA with testing in Russia. In June 2016, they reported that they were unable to fully carry out their work and noted intimidation by armed Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. [4] After a Russian former lab director made allegations about the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, WADA commissioned an independent investigation led by Richard McLaren. McLaren's investigation found corroborating evidence, concluding in a report published in July 2016 that the Ministry of Sport and the FSB had operated a "state-directed failsafe system" using a "disappearing positive [test] methodology" (DPM) from "at least late 2011 to August 2015". [5] [6]

Sochi investigation

Urine sampling bottles Berlinger Bereg Kit doping sampling bottles by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg
Urine sampling bottles

The IOC established the Disciplinary Commission and the Inquiry Commissions in July 2016, following the publication of the McLaren Report. The IOC took this measure since Prof. McLaren did not have the authority to bring forward Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) cases against individual athletes. After receiving the results from the final McLaren Report in December 2016, the IOC opened proceedings against the 28 Russian athletes mentioned in the report (the number later rose to 46, [7] which are now being heard by the Oswald Commission.

On November 1, 2017 a cross-country skier Alexander Legkov who won a gold medal was disqualified and banned for life by the Commission. His Sochi results were wiped from the record. A second Russian cross-country skier who didn't get to the podium was also disqualified and banned for life. [8] 8 days later four more Russian cross-country skiers who won a combined 3 medals were found guilty of doping. [9] The total was brought to ten when four skeleton racers were disqualified on November 22, 2017, two medals (gold and bronze) were stripped off. [10] On November 24, 2017 the IOC imposed life bans on bobsledder Alexandr Zubkov and speed skater Olga Fatkulina who won a combined 3 medals (2 gold, 1 silver). Olga Stulneva and Aleksandr Rumyantsev were also disqualified. [11] All their results were wiped from the record, meaning that Russia lost its first place in the medal standings. On November 27, 2017 IOC sanctioned Olga Vilukhina, Yana Romanova, Sergey Chudinov, Alexey Negodaylo, and Dmitry Trunenkov, and stripped Vilyukhina and Romanova of their medals in biathlon. [12] [13] 3 athletes who didn't win medals were sanctioned on November 29, 2017. [14] 2 days later Olga Zaitseva who won silver in biathlon and two other athletes were also disqualified. [15] On December 12, 2017 six Russian ice hockey players were disqualified. [16] Bobsledder Alexey Voyevoda who had been already stripped of his gold medals due to the anti-doping violations committed by his teammates was sanctioned on December 18, 2017. [17] Eleven athletes were banned on December 22, 2017. Among them, silver medalists Albert Demchenko and Tatiana Ivanova who were stripped of their medals. [18]

List of disqualified sportspeople

NameCountrySportBanned substanceMedalsDetails of testCAS appeals result [19]
Alexander Legkov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg gold
Silver medal icon.svg silver
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [20] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Evgeniy Belov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [20] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Maksim Vylegzhanin Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silver
Silver medal icon.svg silver
Silver medal icon.svg silver
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [21] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Evgenia Shapovalova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [21] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Alexei Petukhov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [21] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Yulia Ivanova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [21] Sanctions upheld
Aleksandr Tretyakov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Skeleton Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg goldIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [22] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Elena Nikitina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Skeleton Disappearing sample Bronze medal icon.svg bronzeIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [22] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Olga Potylitsina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Skeleton Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [22] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Maria Orlova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Skeleton Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [22] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Olga Stulneva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [23] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Alexandr Zubkov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg gold
Gold medal icon.svg gold
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [23] Sanctions upheld
Olga Fatkulina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Speed skating Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [23] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Aleksandr Rumyantsev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Speed skating Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [23] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Aleksei Negodaylo Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg goldIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [24] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Dmitry Trunenkov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg goldIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [24] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Olga Vilukhina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Biathlon Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silver
Silver medal icon.svg silver
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [24] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Yana Romanova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Biathlon Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [24] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Sergei Chudinov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Skeleton Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [24] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Alexander Kasjanov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [14] Sanctions upheld
Aleksei Pushkarev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [14] Sanctions upheld
Ilvir Huzin Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [14] Sanctions upheld
Yuliya Chekalyova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [15] Sanctions upheld
Anastasia Dotsenko Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [15] Sanctions upheld
Olga Zaitseva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Biathlon Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [15] Sanctions upheld
Inna Dyubanok Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions upheld
Yekaterina Lebedeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Yekaterina Pashkevich Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Anna Shibanova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions upheld
Yekaterina Smolentseva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Galina Skiba Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [7] Sanctions upheld
Alexey Voyevoda Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample Gold medal icon.svg gold
Gold medal icon.svg gold
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [25] Sanctions upheld
Albert Demchenko Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Luge Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silver
Silver medal icon.svg silver
IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Tatiana Ivanova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Luge Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Ivan Skobrev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Speed skating Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Artyom Kuznetsov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Speed skating Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Liudmila Udobkina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Maxim Belugin Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Bobsleigh Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] No appeal filed
Tatiana Burina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Anna Shukina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ice hockey Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified
Nikita Kryukov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Alexander Bessmertnykh Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample Silver medal icon.svg silverIOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated
Natalya Matveyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cross-country skiing Disappearing sample IOC sanction imposed in 2017 [18] Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated

See also

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