Four more Russian cross-country skiers get Olympic lfe bans

Berlin (dpa) - Olympic silver medallist Maxim Vylegzhanin has been banned for life from the Games and disqualified from Sochi 2014 together with team-mates Alexey Petukhov, Evgenia Shapovalova and Julia Ivanova, the Russian cross-country ski federation has said. The federation said on Thursday the athletes were sanctioned by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) commission headed by Denis Oswald, which is looking into Russian doping practices at their home Games after a report from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigator Richard McLaren.The ruling comes a week after the IOC imposed the same sanctions on two other members of the cross-country team, Alexander Legkov and Evgeniy Belov.Legkov was stripped of 50km gold and a relay silver, with the relay team disqualified. That cost Vylegzhanin one medal, and he now also loses the silvers from the 50km and team sprint.The IOC was yet to officially confirm the latest ruling.The Russian cross-country ski federation also said it was preparing an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Skiing‘s ruling body FIS will also deal with the cases of the six athletes who have been provisionally suspended since December 2016. The IOC ruling only applies for Olympic Games.The FIS said it aimed to rule swiftly as the ski season starts later in the month and the Pyeongchang Olympics opening February 9 are also nearing.The IOC aims to have a ruling on Russian participation in early December. It refrained from a blanket ban for the Rio 2016 Games and is expected to do the same again.Russia‘s Investigative Committee on Wednesday refuted all allegations of state-sponsored doping and wrongdoings including the tampering of samples in Sochi.