Russia was deprived of first place at the Olympic Games in Sochi

In addition to the awards of Zubkov and Fatkulina, Oswald and his commission deprived the Russians of two gold, three silver and one bronze medals. The head of Alexander Legkov flew first: on November 1, the IOC accused him of violating the anti-doping rules and deprived him of gold, which he won in the race for 50 kilometers. The silver award of the relay team of Russia, which included Legkov, was also recalled. Along with him, Alexander Belov was punished, who did not reach the medals in Sochi. The second wave of sanctions deprived skier Maxim Vylegzhanin of two silver medias. His colleagues Alexei Petukhov, Yevgeny Shapovalov and Yuli Ivanov were also found guilty. After that, the coach of the Russian national team in ski racing, Yuriy Borodavko, suggested that Chernousov “hands over” his partners to WADA, but the sudden Olympic champion called these words bluff. November 22 skeletonists Alexander Tretyakov and Elena Nikitina said goodbye to gold and bronze medals. For all the listed athletes the same penalties were provided: cancellation of the results and lifelong disqualification.

Despite the IOC sanctions, FIS refused to disqualify domestic skiers. "The FIS Anti-Doping Commission must wait for the rationale of the decision of the IOC Disciplinary Commission with the provision of detailed information and evidence before proceeding further," the organization said. At the same time, skiers began a verbal battle with the main sports body of the world. In particular, Petukhov called the IOC decision a violation of all human rights and promised to fight to the end. He also lamented the hatred of foreign experts for Russian athletes. Vylegzhanin assured the public that his conscience is clear and he is not ashamed to look into the eyes of "clean" colleagues.

On this investigation, the commission of Oswald is not completed. Under suspicion remain many athletes of the Russian national team, and their fate seems predetermined. Only the skater Adeline Sotnikova, Olympic champion of Sochi, managed to avoid punishment.

In December, the media reported that her name appears in the report of the head of the independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Richard McLaren, but neither then, nor now is there evidence of her guilt, and in November the case against the athlete was unexpectedly closed. Other Russian Olympians were less fortunate. Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko admitted that new Russians are to be dismissed, and warned that the Oswald commission has a plan to remove the Russian team from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Phenchhane.

23 December FIS pushed Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Evgeny Belov, Alexey Petukhov, Evgeny Shapovalov and Yuli Ivanov away from international competitions. Then the basis for the sanctions was the McLaren report. No evidence of the Russians’s guilt was presented, but the removal was temporary. Later, the IOC will create special commissions to investigate the doping scandal with the participation of domestic athletes, which will lead to a massive deprivation of medals.

At the Games in Vancouver in 2010, the Russian team took the 11-place, winning 15 medals - three gold, five silver and seven bronze. A similar result for the Russians was akin to failure, so fans waited for the Olympics in Sochi with caution. Despite this, the OU-2014 ended in triumph: a victory in the team medal standings with 13 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals. Six of them were brought to the national team by naturalized athletes - short trekist Victor An (three gold and bronze) and snowboarder Vic Wild (two gold). The unexpected success of the Russian team did not surprise anyone. Domestic Olympians did not suspect that the main surprise was yet to come.