Russian Olympic medalist caught doping. And then with a scandal changed the country

Cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya is a titled Russian athlete, who has three Olympic medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games. She was admitted to her medal race in Rio, which happened 6 years ago, at the last moment. This hassle was the last straw for the cyclist, who decided to change citizenship.

To the Olympics – at 32

The daughter of Olympic cycling champion Sergei Sukhoruchenkov seemed to have no other way to the future: only sports and cycling. However, cycling appeared in her life earlier than her father, whom Zabelinskaya met at the age of 16.

Despite the heart defect that the athlete was diagnosed with immediately after birth, she made a choice in favor of sports and began to pedal as a child. Her genes and amazing work ethic helped Zabelinskaya rise early to a high level, winning her first World Junior title in the individual road race at 17, and then added a similar title on the track.

But Zabelinskaya’s path to the Olympics was long: due to the birth of two children, she was able to qualify for the Games only in 2012, she was already 32 years old then. London became a good place for her: the Russian woman won two bronze medals.

Olga Zabelinskaya / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Wilf

doping scandal

Having made another pause after the successful Olympics for the birth of her third child, Zabelinskaya began to plow for the medals of the 2016 Games. She dreamed of performing in Rio no worse than in London, and got on the bike on the fourth day after giving birth – our cyclist was so motivated.

But in 2014, halfway through, Zabelinskaya got into a doping scandal. The illegal drug octopamine, which has a powerful stimulating effect and is found in many nutritional supplements, was found in her body. The athlete herself denied a deliberate violation of anti-doping rules, and the Russian Cycling Federation acquitted her. But the International Cycling Union filed an appeal against the decision.

As a result, the Russian woman did not perform for almost two years due to Union sanctions. At the beginning of 2016, she entered into a pre-trial agreement without challenging the fact that the prohibited substance was in her body. As a result, she was again allowed to compete.

And another scandal

But two weeks before the Olympics in Rio, the preparation for which Zabelinskaya was thoroughly spoiled, the cyclist started having problems again. This time, due to the decision of the IOC not to allow Russian athletes with a doping history to participate in the Games. The reason for this, as you know, was the investigation of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which announced an allegedly large-scale doping program in Russian sports.

Zabelinskaya, according to the new admission conditions, should have missed the Rio Olympics. But suspended athletes, including her, filed an appeal with CAS for an expedited decision. Three days before the start of the first cycling race, scheduled for August 7, the Russian woman did not know if she could take part in it!

As a result, on August 5, a court decision broke out: “no” to double liability. The IOC’s suspension decision is illegal, so anyone who has served their “sentence” for doping should be admitted.

Olga Zabelinskaya / Photo: © Tim de Waele / Staff / Velo / Gettyimages.com

Zabelinskaya went to the start, but she did not succeed in the group race – only the 16th result. Gathering over the next two days of rest and finally digesting what happened, the Russian woman got really angry and reached the best result in her career: second place in the race with a separate start, losing only to the three-time Olympic champion from the United States.

Changed country for the third Olympics

On this, the hassle with doping was enough for Zabelinskaya: she decided that something needed to be changed in life. And I started with citizenship. In 2018, the cyclist received an Uzbek passport, which surprised her father first of all.

“Now it’s easy to change citizenship,” Sukhoruchenkov said in 2018. – For me it’s wild, but for someone it’s fashionable. This is her own business.

Olga did not manage to leave without a scandal, but the resonance around her decision did not stop the racer. The main reason for such an act was fears for his sports future in the Russian national team due to doping problems. Zabelinskaya understood that in four years in Tokyo the national team would have neither a flag nor an anthem, and Russian athletes with a doping past could be deployed again.

“I am 99% sure that my participation in the 2020 Games under the Russian flag will be impossible,” she said.

At the same time, the Olympics still remained the number 1 goal for the athlete, despite her age over 40. For the sake of switching under a different flag, she even missed two world championships, after serving the quarantine.

“Intuition failed me”

But Zabelinskaya could not cling to the coveted gold that her father has, or repeat the achievements of London and Rio in Tokyo. Her best result is ninth place in the group race. However, perhaps at 41, the former Russian woman no longer dreamed of a medal, but simply wanted to become a three-time participant in the Games.

Olga Zabelinskaya / Photo: © Tim de Waele / Staff / Velo / Gettyimages.com

Nevertheless, Zabelinskaya managed to set a record – in Tokyo she became the first Olympic cyclist in the history of Uzbekistan. In the four years that have passed since the change of citizenship, she has also repeatedly won the Asian Championship, not only on the road, but also on the track. In addition, in 2021, she, as the flagship of the country’s cycling, decided to sign a contract with the first Uzbek professional cycling team.

Zabelinskaya does not regret her decision to switch to another flag, because a year before the official start of the Games, which were scheduled for 2020, WADA achieved a four-year ban for the Russian team for the Olympics and World Championships:

“My intuition did not fail me,” she said after the decision. – To gloat and I don’t think what gloating can be here.