Quick look at Russian Olympic doping cases

At the past six Olympic Games, both summer and winter, Russian athletes were either stripped of medals and expelled for positive tests or competed under clouds of suspicion. Here’s a glance:

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SALT LAKE CITY, 2002: Cross-country skiers Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova stripped of gold and silver medals, after testing positive for performance-enhancer darbepoetin.

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ATHENS, 2004: Previous doping offender Irina Korzhanenko stripped of shot-put gold after testing positive for steroid stanozolol. Runner Anton Galkin expelled, also for stanozolol positive; weightlifter Albina Khomich barred for failing pre-competition test.

In 2012, Svetlana Krivelyova, who moved up to bronze after Korzhanenko’s disqualification, was stripped of that medal after International Olympic Committee retesting of her stored Athens samples found the steroid oxandrolone.

In 2013, IOC also stripped Oleg Perepechenov of weightlifting bronze after retest found fat-burning, muscle-building drug clenbuterol in his stored Athens sample.

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TURIN, 2006: Biathlete Olga Pyleva stripped of silver medal, positive for stimulant carphedon.

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BEIJING, 2008: Steeplechaser Roman Usov withdrawn and was subsequently banned for carphedon positive. Runners Olga Yegorova, Tatyana Tomashova, Yelena Soboleva, Yulia Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova, plus field athletes Gulfiya Khanafeyeva and Darya Pishchalnikova suspended days before the Olympic opening ceremony after an IAAF investigation found they tampered with urine samples. Head of IOC’s medical commission, Arne Ljungqvist, called this “systematic doping” and “planned cheating.”

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VANCOUVER, 2010: Hockey player Svetlana Terenteva reprimanded but escaped ban after positive test for tuaminoheptane, a stimulant in cold remedies. No other Russian positives in Vancouver but the country faced scrutiny after more than half a dozen biathletes and cross-country skiers were banned in the year before the games for using the endurance-enhancer EPO. Then-IOC President Jacques Rogge demanded “strong anti-doping actions” from Russia and raised the issue with Dmitry Medvedev, then Russia’s president. The International Ski Federation subsequently warned Russia to clean up or risk having athletes barred from the Sochi Olympics. It also fined Russia’s ski association and ordered some Russian coaches to be fired.

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LONDON, 2012: Track cyclist Victoria Baranova expelled for testosterone found in pre-Olympics test. Pishchalnikova, a previous offender in 2008 tampering case, later stripped of discus silver medal from London Games and banned for 10 years after positive test for oxandrolone.