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Triathlon body sanctions Russia for doping

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Russian Igor Polyanskiy (white bike frame) was first athlete banned for doping at Tokyo Olympics.
Camera IconRussian Igor Polyanskiy (white bike frame) was first athlete banned for doping at Tokyo Olympics. Credit: AP

World Triathlon has imposed sanctions on the Russian Triathlon Federation (RTF) that will be effective for one year due to a "significant number" of doping cases in the country, the governing body said in a statement on Monday.

As part of the sanctions, Russia will not be able to organise any World or European Triathlon events until the end of 2022, and RTF officials will have to resign from the events' governing bodies for the period of one year.

However, Russian athletes will continue to be allowed to compete.

RTF has also been asked to reach an agreement with the Russia Anti-Doping Agency to test all athletes from the country, as well as refund cash prizes previously awarded to the Russian triathletes penalised with doping offences.

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Earlier this year, Russian triathlete Igor Polyanskiy became the first athlete to be formally disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics after he was suspended for three years after testing positive for the banned substance EPO.

Former European Championships silver medallist Alexander Bryukhankov was given an identical ban, while Vladimir Turbayevskiy was barred from competition in August for abnormalities in his biological passport.

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"World Triathlon is fully committed with the fight against any form of doping in the sport," the governing body said on its website.

There was no immediate response from the RTF, which is led by Ksenia Shoigu, the influential daughter of the Russian Defence Minister.

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