Biathlon team officially receives Olympic gold medal from Sochi.
Following a meeting of the International Olympic Committee's executive board on Friday, a historic decision was made regarding the 4x7.5 km relay event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The disqualification of the Russian team, due to the subsequent doping conviction and lifetime ban of athlete Evgeny Ustyugov, has led to the promotion of the German team to the gold medal position.
Ustyugov's medals, including the relay gold in Sochi, the mass start gold and relay bronze in Vancouver, and two silver medals at the 2011 World Championships, have been stripped. Anomalies were found in Ustyugov's biological passport, and the Swiss Federal Tribunal rejected his final appeal in 2021.
The German biathletes Erik Lesser, Daniel Böhm, Arnd Peiffer, and Simon Schempp have been awarded the gold medal in this event. Anchor Simon Schempp lost the final of the event by 3.5 seconds to Anton Shipulin on February 22, 2014. Lesser and his teammates have returned their silver medals from the Sochi relay.
Austria received the silver medal, and Norway took the bronze in the same event. The gold medal was originally awarded to the disqualified Russian team, but has been granted to the German team following a decision by the International Olympic Committee.
Peiffer and Schempp expressed their feelings about the decision. Peiffer prefers to receive the medal at the biathlon stadium in Antholz, while Schempp stated, "I'm glad that this is finally over and done with. I'm looking forward to a new medal in a new color."
Lesser also expressed his thoughts, stating, "Even after 11 years, it's right that someone else takes the place of someone who cheated unfairly." The IOC will offer the option of receiving the medal at the Olympics in consultation with local organizers and the International Biathlon Union.
This decision brings an end to years of waiting for the German team. The IBU suspects data manipulation at the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory during the 2014 Winter Olympics, but the German team can now proudly claim their rightful place on the podium.
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