General
Russian Olympic medalist caught doping. And then with a scandal changed the country
Olga Zabelinskaya / Photo: © Justin Setterfield / Staff / Velo / Gettyimages.ru
The act of Olga Zabelinskaya disappointed even her father.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Source: Sportbox
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
The creative director of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Marko Balic, confirmed that two cauldrons containing the Olympic flame will be used during the event.
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Games will take place on February 6 at the San Siro stadium in Milan, and parts of it will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livigno and Predazzo, the cities that will host various competitions.
— I am ready to confirm that we will use two bowls. We want Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo to be on an equal footing, so that no one feels left out.
We are preparing a program for the works of Puccini, Verdi and Rossini. Their music will be the soul of our ceremony. People’s emotions are our secret ingredient.
We want to create some bright and memorable moments throughout the ceremony. I don’t want to reveal all my cards, but I hope that we will touch certain notes in the souls of the audience,” Balic said during a press conference.
Balic also said that the opening ceremony of the Olympics will be dedicated, among other things, to Giorgio Armani. The Italian fashion designer died on September 4, 2025 at the age of 91.
“We will use images created by Armani over many years. By doing so, we want to honor his memory and note the contribution he made to the development of the global fashion world and world art. And to show how much he meant to us Italians.
Harmony is the main theme of our ceremony. It is about harmony between man and nature. Everything that is harmonious is beautiful. And for Italians, beauty is the essence of nature. Harmony is also a universal message of peace, something we really need in 2026.
But we know that the main stars of the ceremony are the athletes,” Balic said in a press conference.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
General
“The best news in years.” The flag and anthem were immediately returned to two Russian teams
Two federations immediately lifted restrictions on our juniors in one day.
At the beginning of winter, the IOC recommended that international federations lift all restrictions on Russian juniors. If prohibitive recommendations were once implemented instantly and everywhere, now most federations are in no hurry.
And yet the process continues. Two Russian teams at once got the opportunity to compete at international tournaments in full status!
Restoring justice
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is hiding cowardice behind attempts to distance itself from politics in matters related to the hypothetical suspension of athletes from the United States. At the same time, the organization is in no hurry to remove all restrictions from Russian athletes. Nevertheless, justice is being restored in small steps.
Paralympic athletes compete under the flag, and restrictions on juniors have been formally lifted. Federations are slowly, but still beginning to follow the updated IOC recommendations one after another. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the International Fencing Federation (FIE) and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) some time ago restored the rights of our young athletes. And on Monday it became known that two more federations are fully returning young Russians.
“Under the national flag”
— Guided by the recommendations of the IOC, the WCF (World Curling Federation) council, held last week, decided to admit Russian juniors to international competitions. Junior teams from Russia and Belarus will be able to perform under national flags, in national equipment, with the anthem performed and their country indicated. For the first time, the new rules will be applied already in the current season, on May 5–10, 2026, at the World Junior Curling Championship among mixed pairs in Edmonton, wrote the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev in the Telegram channel.
Following the World Curling Federation, the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) made a fundamental decision regarding the Russians and Belarusians. The organization’s executive board decided to allow representatives of the two countries to participate in the tournaments. True, for now there is an age limit of up to 18 years.
“The decision was made based on the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, which consistently defends the principle of free access for young people to international sports, regardless of political factors,” notes the ROC Telegram channel.
“Sport has become out of politics”
In Russia, the news about the admission of our young athletes under the national flag was positively received.
— The best news in recent years in world curling is the admission of our guys, even if they are still young. We will seek admission without age restrictions for the rest of our athletes. Our federation will hold an emergency meeting with the coaching staff. “Young people will need to prepare for the World Championships in May,” Dmitry Svishchev, president of the Russian Curling Federation, told Match TV.
– I’m delighted. Cool, I’m very glad, it’s been a long time coming! I’m glad that sport has finally become a sport and that it has become outside of politics. Great news. Perhaps juniors need this even more now, because, unfortunately, we have most likely lost the generation that was ready to fight on equal terms with top athletes, because we were not allowed to perform for a long time,” Match TV quotes two-time European curling champion Anna Sidorova.
“Everyone was waiting for this decision. We have long wanted to show the level of Russian baseball and softball players at the international level, to show the whole world that they shouldn’t have suspended us, because it’s interesting to play with us, we are worthy opponents,” said Dmitry Kiselev, president of the Russian Baseball and Softball Federation, to Match TV.
What to expect next? Full restoration of the rights of all Russian athletes. Although, of course, predicting the timing of this long-awaited event is a thankless task.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
Johannes Dahle-Sevdahl / Photo: © Alexander Hassenstein / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Norwegian biathlete Johannes Dahle-Sevdahl won the pursuit race at the fifth stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany.
Dale-Ševdal made one mistake on four firing lines and covered the 12.5 km distance in 30 minutes 23.9 seconds.
The second place was taken by the Frenchman Eric Perrault (lag – 4.9 seconds; 3 misses), the top three was closed by the Swede Martin Ponsiluoma (+7.5 seconds; 4 misses).
The leader of the overall World Cup standings, Italian Tommaso Giacomel, finished fifth (+8.5 seconds; 5 penalties).
The next stage of the Biathlon World Cup will be held from January 22 to 25 in the Czech city of Nove Mesto.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
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