Category Sports News

11 years after winning the medals at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russian Paralympian Nikolay Polukhin was denied entry for breaking anti-doping regulations.

Polukhin, a paralympic athlete, provided urine samples that had been tampered with during the Games, according to the independent International Paralympic Committee (IPC) independent anti-doping tribunal, an event that was overshadowed by Russian state-sponsored doping.

During the Games, Polukhin provided “clean” urine that could be ‘swapping’ with samples that had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) as evidenced by DNA testing.

A medication called TMZ that increases heart rate and promotes glucose metabolism, which can increase endurance, increases blood flow to the heart.

The sample bottle had “scratches and marks, and a urine residue tooth mark that could only have been caused by someone closing, opening, then closing, then reclosing the sample bottle,” according to forensic analysis of the sample.

The Sochi laboratory’s urine analysis in 2018 revealed that the composition of the urine had changed since then, according to the tribunal.

Polukhin, 42, will lose both his gold medal and silver medal from the same event, which he won in the men’s para-biathlon competition for 15 km for visually impaired runners-up.

The tribunal determined that the athlete’s behavior at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games was “particularly egregious” and “significantly undermined the integrity of the event.”

According to the report, Polukhin denied giving “any logical or plausible explanation” for the evidence of sample substitution with his urine.

Polukhin’s complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was later dropped after he failed to pay the cost advance.

The tribunal rendered its decision on September 25, 2024, but under the law, it was required to wait until the appeals process was over.

The resolution of this case, according to the IPC’s anti-doping head, draws a line from a long investigation into possible anti-doping violations by Russian athletes at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Between 2012 and 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) provided evidence relating to the state-sponsored doping program in Russian sport.

In order to conceal presumptive adverse analytical findings, the Moscow and Sochi laboratories traded out “dirty” urine samples for “clean” ones at the time.

Russian athletes were prohibited from competing under their flag between 2015 and 2018 before Wada implemented a fourth-year ban in 2019.

Russian athletes were required to compete under a “neutral” flag until December 16th, 2022 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the suspension to two years.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been prohibited from competing in sporting events.

One of two athletes found to have broken anti-doping laws at Sochi 2014 is Polukhin. Igor Stella, an Italian para-ice hockey player, was the other, whose case was made public during the Games.

11 years after winning the medals at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russian Paralympian Nikolay Polukhin was denied entry for breaking anti-doping regulations.

Polukhin, a paralympic athlete, provided urine samples that had been tampered with during the Games, according to the independent International Paralympic Committee (IPC) independent anti-doping tribunal, an event that was overshadowed by Russian state-sponsored doping.

During the Games, Polukhin provided “clean” urine that could be ‘swapping’ with samples that had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) as evidenced by DNA testing.

A medication called TMZ that increases heart rate and promotes glucose metabolism, which can increase endurance, increases blood flow to the heart.

The sample bottle had “scratches and marks, and a urine residue tooth mark that could only have been caused by someone closing, opening, then closing, then reclosing the sample bottle,” according to forensic analysis of the sample.

The Sochi laboratory’s urine analysis in 2018 revealed that the composition of the urine had changed since then, according to the tribunal.

Polukhin, 42, will lose both his gold medal and silver medal from the same event, which he won in the men’s para-biathlon competition for 15 km for visually impaired runners-up.

The tribunal determined that the athlete’s behavior at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games was “particularly egregious” and “significantly undermined the integrity of the event.”

According to the report, Polukhin denied giving “any logical or plausible explanation” for the evidence of sample substitution with his urine.

Polukhin’s complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was later dropped after he failed to pay the cost advance.

The tribunal rendered its decision on September 25, 2024, but under the law, it was required to wait until the appeals process was over.

The resolution of this case, according to the IPC’s anti-doping head, draws a line from a long investigation into possible anti-doping violations by Russian athletes at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Between 2012 and 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) provided evidence relating to the state-sponsored doping program in Russian sport.

In order to conceal presumptive adverse analytical findings, the Moscow and Sochi laboratories traded out “dirty” urine samples for “clean” ones at the time.

Russian athletes were prohibited from competing under their flag between 2015 and 2018 before Wada implemented a fourth-year ban in 2019.

Russian athletes were required to compete under a “neutral” flag until December 16th, 2022 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the suspension to two years.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been prohibited from competing in sporting events.

One of two athletes found to have broken anti-doping laws at Sochi 2014 is Polukhin. Igor Stella, an Italian para-ice hockey player, was the other, whose case was made public during the Games.

Emma Raducanu is starting to play like it is 2021.

The Briton, who won 10 matches in straight sets to clinch the US Open title, had not been able to win more than three in a row until this week’s Miami Open.

Her run was ended by world number four Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals, but on Monday Raducanu will return to the world’s top 50 for the first time since September 2022.

Success has come despite a constantly changing sea of faces in the coaching box and a typically challenging start to the year.

The 22-year-old has not had a full-time coach since January, but played with great freedom in Miami.

After the early promise of two Australian Open wins against higher-ranked opponents, Raducanu lost heavily to Iga Swiatek in January before coach Nick Cavaday informed her his health would prevent him from continuing.

February’s spell in the Middle East ended in distressing fashion, as a man who had been following Raducanu around the circuit was evicted from her second-round match and given a restraining order.

Raducanu appeared rudderless for much of that period, although she was rarely short of support. Her strength and conditioning coach Yutaka Nakamura has barely left her side since starting in early December.

Roman Kelecic, a coach from her teenage days, helped out in Abu Dhabi. Jane O’Donoghue, a friend and former LTA coach, was in Doha and Dubai. Tom Welsh was drafted in from the Loughborough Academy as a short-term hire for Indian Wells, only for Vladimir Platenik to usurp him by arriving in California for a hastily arranged trial.

Petchey coached an 18-year-old Andy Murray for 10 months – during which he won his first ATP title – and trained with Raducanu during the pandemic summer of 2020.

Those weeks at the National Tennis Centre in London appear to have left quite an impression on Raducanu. There is a mutual respect and rapport between the two.

O’Donoghue has been a regular confidante for Raducanu, and was the LTA’s national women’s coach until 2019, when she left the sport for pastures new.

Raducanu trusts them and is able to relax in their company, but they both have day jobs.

Petchey is in broadcasting – most notably with the Tennis Channel – and O’Donoghue in finance. She is currently on a sabbatical, but there is no suggestion she wants to return to the far less secure world of tennis coaching on a permanent basis.

Both could offer input but, as things stand, not the type of support Raducanu said she was seeking when speaking to the BBC at Indian Wells.

“Once I have a structure in place and I can fall back on the process again I will feel very set,” she said this month.

“In the Middle East it was very difficult for me because I didn’t really have any direction or structure or which tournaments to play and it was very difficult doing it all on my own.

Raducanu is part of the Great Britain team which will compete in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round in early April, and will be able to spend the next two weeks working with the LTA coaching team.

But she will need a more lasting plan swiftly.

Her clay-court season could take in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome before the French Open, and there will be very little respite in the schedule before the end of October.

That plan does not need to revolve around one person.

Many top players employ more than one coach, usually because it is very hard for any one individual to commit to more than 30 weeks on the road each year.

Jack Draper ended last summer’s partnership with Wayne Ferreira as he preferred the “one voice” of James Trotman, but now travels to some events with Alex Ward.

Perhaps things could have worked out differently with Cavaday if an additional coach had been brought into the team when his health problems first arose in the spring of 2024.

Exposure to different personalities and ways of thinking has always been appealing to Raducanu, but the period with Cavaday offered her stability and calmness.

Other partnerships fizzled out much more quickly.

Platenik lasted only two weeks. His coaching acumen is widely admired, but his personality did not seem a good match for Raducanu.

One former player compared him to a “freight train”, saying he was intense and opinionated. Platenik says Raducanu told him she was feeling “stressed” when ending the brief collaboration.

Torben Beltz looked an excellent choice, given his Grand Slam success with Angelique Kerber, but Raducanu did not feel he had enough to offer.

Dmitry Tursunov ended their partnership because he thought Raducanu needed to listen to just “one voice”. He referred to “red flags” and a feeling there may be further problems down the line.

Her spell with Sebastian Sachs concluded after operations on both hands and left ankle, which kept her on the sidelines for the second half of 2023.

There did not seem much logic in dispensing of the services of Nigel Sears after Wimbledon 2021, but it is hard to argue with the choice of Andrew Richardson, who then steered her to that historic triumph at the US Open.

Would Raducanu go back to a coach she has previously let go? Sears still looks a good bet and has a proven track record of success with Daniela Hantuchova, Ana Ivanovic and Anett Kontaveit.

He is no longer working with the Australian Olivia Gadecki, and is a regular at the National Tennis Centre in London, where he works with the LTA’s women’s team.

For all her progress in Miami, Raducanu may have a difficult spring and summer without the right personnel around her.

Does she ever throws a covetous glance at Draper’s set-up?

His team looks a thoroughly professional outfit, and some hard decisions have recently been made.

Physio Will Herbert and strength and conditioning coach Steve Kotze are no longer involved. They have been replaced by Shane Annun and Matt Little, who were so integral to Andy Murray’s team.

Emma Raducanu is beginning to act like 2021.

Prior to this week’s Miami Open, the Briton, who won 10 straight sets games to win the US Open title, had only managed three victories in a row.

Jessica Pegula, the world’s number four, ended her run in the quarter-finals, but Raducanu will make it back to the top 50 on Monday for the first time since September 2022.

Despite a constantly evolving cast of coaches and a typically difficult year-beginning, success has arrived.

The 22-year-old hasn’t had a full-time coach since January, but he had a lot of freedom in Miami.

A man who had been following Raducanu around the circuit was removed from her second-round game and given a restraining order as a result of February’s trouble in the Middle East.

Despite being frequently without a lot of support, Raducanu appeared rudderless for the majority of that time. Since beginning in December, Yutaka Nakamura, her strength and conditioning coach, has hardly ever left.

In Abu Dhabi, Roman Kelecic, a coach since her teenage years, gave a helping hand. Former LTA coach and friend Jane O’Donoghue was in Dubai and Doha. Vladimir Platenik usurped Tom Welsh from the Loughborough Academy by bringing him in for a hastily scheduled trial in California, where he had previously been hired for a short-term assignment at Indian Wells.

In the pandemic summer of 2020, Petchey trained with Raducanu and an 18-year-old Andy Murray for 10 months, during which he won his first ATP title.

Raducanu appears to have had a lasting impression during those two weeks spent at the National Tennis Centre in London. The two people have a close relationship and respect for one another.

O’Donoghue has been Raducanu’s frequent confidant up until 2019, when she left the sport for a more casual life.

Raducanu has faith in them and can unwind at work, but they both work from day jobs.

O’Donoghue is in finance, Petchey is in broadcasting, most notably with the Tennis Channel. She is currently taking a sabbatical, but it is not suggested that she wants to permanently return to the less secure world of tennis coaching.

Both could provide input, but as things stand, neither would provide the support Raducanu claimed she needed from the BBC in Indian Wells.

She said this month, “Once I have a structure in place and I can fall back on the process, I will feel very set.”

“Being alone in the Middle East was very difficult for me because I didn’t really have any structure or rules for what tournaments to play.”

Raducanu will spend the next two weeks working with the LTA coaching team, which is a member of the Great Britain team that will compete in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round in early April.

But she will require a swifter, longer plan.

Before the French Open, there will be very little rest before the end of October due to her clay-court schedule, which could include visits to Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome.

That strategy doesn’t need to revolve around just one person.

Many of the best players have more than one coach, typically because it is difficult for one person to commit to traveling for more than 30 weeks each year.

Jack Draper canceled his summertime partnership with Wayne Ferreira because he favors James Trotman’s “one voice” and is now taking turns hosting events with Alex Ward.

If Cavaday’s health issues had first arisen in the spring of 2024, things might have changed.

Raducanu has always enjoyed being around various personalities and ways of thinking, but Cavaday’s time together provided her with stability and calm.

Other partnerships quickly ran out, much like that.

Only two weeks were spent on Platenik. Although Raducanu is widely admired, his personality did not seem to be suitable for Raducanu.

He was intense and opinionated, according to a former player, who compared him to a “freight train.” Platinenik claims that Raducanu told him that she was feeling stressed when the brief collaboration came to an end.

Given his success at the Grand Slam with Angelique Kerber, Torben Beltz appeared to be a great choice, but Raducanu didn’t think he had enough to offer.

Due to the fact that Dmitry Tursunov believed Raducanu needed to have “one voice” to listen to, he ended their partnership. He mentioned “red flags” and “a feeling that future issues may arise.”

After having operations on both hands and left ankle, which kept her on the sidelines until the second half of 2023, she left Sebastian Sachs.

After Wimbledon 2021, it seemed logical to dispense Nigel Sears’ services, but Andrew Richardson’s choice, who later led her to that historic victory at the US Open, seemed inconsequential.

Would Raducanu resign from a position she had previously left? With Daniela Hantuchova, Ana Ivanovic, and Anett Kontaveit, Spears still appears to be a good bet.

He regularly attends the National Tennis Centre in London, where he plays for the LTA’s women’s team, but is no longer a part of Olivia Gadecki, an Australian tennis player.

Without the right people around her, Raducanu might face a challenging spring and summer due to her progress in Miami.

Does she ever glance at Draper’s setup indignantly?

His team appears to be a very professional outfit, and some difficult choices have recently been made.

No longer working with physio Will Herbert and strength-training Steve Kotze. Shane Annun and Matt Little, who were so important to Andy Murray’s team, have taken their place.

After their multi-billion dollar agreement to organize the Davis Cup abruptly ended in 2023, the International Tennis Federation and Gerard Pique’s investment company reached a settlement.

In an effort to modernize the men’s national team tournament, Kosmos, a former Barcelona defender, and the ITF announced a 25-year, $ 2.25 billion partnership in 2018.

The ITF stated at the time of the agreement that it would safeguard the legendary Davis Cup and contribute an additional $25 million annually to the sport’s development abroad.

The format of the 123-year-old tournament was changed to an end-of-season “World Cup-style” event as a result of the partnership with the 2010 World Cup winner’s company, which was controversial among players.

The partnership was terminated in 2023 when Kosmos attempted to renegotiate it, and the ITF claimed that the competition, which started in 1900, had “ensured financial contingencies in place.”

The ITF was then accused of an “unjustified termination” of the contract and filed a lawsuit with Kosmos, claiming damages.

However, a compromise has been reached, according to the ITF, who stated that “Kosmos and the ITF have reached an amicable resolution regarding their previous contractual disagreements involving the Davis Cup’s organization.”

Both organizations wish each other the best of luck with their upcoming projects.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been a star of the Cristiano Ronaldo video game franchises for years, scoring goals with his iconic “siu” on virtual pitches.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner enters a completely different kind of conflict, however.

Players can control Ronaldo in a combat game, pitting against veteran warriors in the virtual world, without weaving past defenders or smashing in free kicks.

The Portuguese superstar has been added to the upcoming fighting game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which is scheduled to launch next month.

One of the 15 playable characters in the video game, which was created by Japanese studio SNK, is Ronaldo.

The Fatal Fury franchise, which was founded in 1991, was one of the early adopters of the fighting game genre that gained notoriety in the 1990s.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star uses a blazing blue football to attack his opponent before performing his signature celebration in the game’s trailer, which features a number seven shirt and a captain’s armband.

11 sequels were made for the original Fatal Fury game, the final of which came out in 1999.

When it debuts on April 24th, City of the Wolves will be the series’ first new game in 26 years.

Ronaldo’s character page describes him as “one of the best football players in the world,” having been capped 219 times by Portugal.

He uses his free time to travel to South Town to practice his new football abilities, according to the game’s website. Even to seasoned fighters, he is an unstoppable force thanks to the various methods he has employed while playing football.

The Saudi Arabian Al Nasr captain, who also plays for Al Nasr, previously appeared in Ronaldo & Hugo: Superstar Skaters, a 2015 mobile runner game.