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Lizzy Yarnold criticises omission of Russians from Winter Olympic checks

Olympic champion Yarnold is one of three Britons among the 11 athletes selected from skeleton.

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Lizzy Yarnold has criticised the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation for failing to include any Russian skeleton athletes on its official list of those who must commit to regular anti-doping checks for the Winter Olympic season.

The IBSF has released the names of 35 sliders selected for its Registered Testing Pool – which requires them to guarantee their whereabouts for one hour per day of the programme’s duration, via the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS).

Olympic champion Yarnold is one of three Britons among the 11 athletes selected from skeleton, but there are no Russians despite a culture of suspicion over the Russian sliding programme since the publication of the second McLaren report last year.

Yarnold told Press Association Sport: “The ADAMS system is crucial in our fight against doping and I think the IBSF should expand the testing pool. But I do not understand why there are three GB athletes in the pool of 11 and no Russians, especially after the findings of the McLaren report.”

Two bobsledders, Anastasia Kocherzhova and Andrey Lylov – who compete for their nation’s respective second teams and are each yet to achieve a top 10 finish in a World Cup – are the only Russian athletes to feature on the full IBSF list.

Following the second McLaren report last year, four Russian skeleton athletes including Olympic champion Alexander Tretyakov and bronze medallist Elena Nikitina, were provisionally suspended by the IBSF but had their bans lifted in January as the governing body said there was “insufficient evidence” to continue with the suspension.

WADA’s ‘Criteria for RTP inclusion’, published in 2014, said that potential targets for Registered Testing Pools ought to include “athletes for whom reliable information from a third party has indicated possible doping practices”.

IBSF statutes maintain that any athlete may still be chosen for a random test, and investigations into the four Russian athletes are still ongoing as part of the broader, post-McLaren probe into Russian doping involving both the IBSF and the International Olympic Committee.

In addition, athletes could be subjected to national testing pools under the auspices of their respective national anti-doping agency, although the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA, had been deemed non-compliant with the WADA code since November 2015.

The IBSF was forced to move its World Championships from Sochi to Konigssee in Germany in February this year due to ongoing concerns over the integrity of the sport in Russia.

Yarnold led calls for a potential boycott of the event had it taken place in Sochi, along with the Latvian skeleton team, which has six athletes on the new RTP list, including top-ranked skeleton brothers Martins and Tomass Dukurs, and Olympic four-man medallist Oskars Melbardis.

This season will be the fifth consecutive in which Yarnold has been subjected to an RTP.

Yarnold, who also took to social media to express her concerns, added: “I’ve been part of the IBSF random testing programme since 2012 and I support it one million per cent. I want our sport to be at the forefront of the anti-doping movement so I think the answer is to increase the testing pool for all athletes.”

When contacted, the IBSF said none of its anti-doping officials were immediately available for comment.

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