Stripped of 2 more gold medals, Russia loses 2014 Winter Olympics championship title

Host Russia has temporarily lost its number 1 position on the medal tally at the 2014 Winter Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped it of two more gold medals due to a doping scandal.

Russia had previously topped the medal table at the Sochi event with 13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals, while Norway was second with 11 gold, five silver and 10 bronze, followed by Canada and the United States. However, Russia's overall lead could be up in the air after the IOC stripped Aleksandr Zubkov of two gold medals from bobsled (double and quadruple) at the 2014 Winter Olympics for violating anti-doping rules. The 43-year-old is now retired and is the head of the Russian Bobsled Federation.

Zubkov said he would fight the IOC's decision, as he had done with several other Russian winter sports athletes who had been punished. "They (the IOC) are punishing our best athletes without any evidence. We will defend our reputation, starting with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and ending with civil court. I am innocent," Zubkov said.

Aleksandr Zubkov stripped of 2 gold medals puts Russia at risk of being banned from 2018 Winter OlympicsAFP

Earlier this month, Russian winter sports faced a series of sanctions. Accordingly, the IOC banned 10 athletes for life and stripped them of 6 medals from the 2014 Winter Olympics. Among the medals stripped (4 skiing medals and a skating medal), there was 1 gold medal in prone skating. With 3 gold medals stripped, Russia temporarily lost its top position in the medal rankings at the 2014 Winter Olympics and will officially lose the title if the appeal is not successful.

Following an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) into violations by Russian athletes at the Sochi event, the IOC has set up two separate commissions to cross-check samples from Russian athletes and found the existence of a state-sponsored doping program. The results of this investigation resulted in Russia being banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics, and their fate will be decided at an IOC meeting in early December.

According to TNO