Lawyer: IOC loses Swiss supreme court appeal in Russian case

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — A lawyer for Russian cross-country skier Alexander Legkov says Switzerland’s federal court has dismissed the IOC’s appeal against Russian athletes being cleared of doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Lawyer Christof Wieschemann says in a statement “Alexander Legkov can rightly claim: ‘My medals are clean!’ Congratulations.”

The IOC had stripped Legkov of his gold medal in 50-kilometre freestyle and silver in the 4×10-kilometre relay.

An Olympic disciplinary panel ruled Legkov was part of a state-backed doping program, detailed by investigator Richard McLaren using evidence from laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov.

A Court of Arbitration for Sport panel then upheld appeals by Legkov and some others, and reinstated them days before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics opened.

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IOC President Thomas Bach acknowledged last May an appeal to the Swiss supreme court was likely to fail, though said it was necessary to protect “clean athletes who have finished behind the Russian athletes who have not been declared innocent.”

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