2ND LEAD IOC imposes Olympic life bans on three more Russians, now 36 cases By John Bagratuni, dpa

Berlin (dpa) - Three more Russian athletes, two cross-country skiers and a biathlete, have been banned for life from the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in connection with doping practices at the Sochi 2014 Games.The IOC also said that the number of probed cases has risen from 28 to 36 "after additional findings from the re-analyses" of drug test samples.Cross-country skiers Yulia Chekaleva and Anastasia Dotsenko as well as biathlete Olga Zaytseva have their 2014 results nullified and are barred from all future Games.Zaytseva won a silver medal with the relay team but that result has already been nullified as relay team-mate Olga Vilukhina was sanctioned by the IOC in the same way on Monday.The IOC has imposed life bans on 25 Russian athletes mentioned in a report by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren which spoke of doping schemes in Sochi including tampering with samples. One case was closed without sanctions.The Sochi cases have been dealt with by an IOC commission headed by Swiss Denis Oswald, and a second commission, chaired by compatriot Samuel Schmid, is also to finalize its report on accusations of state-sponsored doping practices in Russian sport within the next days.Based on the Schmid report among others, the IOC will decide on Tuesday whether or not to ban the full Russian team from the upcoming Pyeongchang Games. The IOC stopped short of a blanked ban at the Rio 2016 games. Russian officials and athletes have protested their innocence throughout the case and some sanctioned athletes have already said they will bring their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.The ruling bobsleigh and skeleton body IBSF meanwhile lifted the provisional suspension of the nine Russian sliders banned for life by the IOC, saying it was awaiting more evidence.They include two-time 2014 bobsleigh Olympic champion Alexander Zhubkov who now heads Russia‘s bobsleigh federation, and the 2014 skeleton gold medallist Alexander Tretyakov.The IBSF said "there is still not yet sufficient evidence of the above mentioned individual athletes and officials that would justify the provisional suspension being maintained for the time being."The Hearing Panel invites the IOC to present the IBSF with a reasoned decision, as soon as possible, in order to potentially re-consider the position of the individual athletes and officials."The athletes could now compete in upcoming World Cup events, just as several cross-country skiers did last weekend before being suspended Wednesday by the ruling body FIS after it received more information and the detailed ruling on skier Alexander Legkov was published.The issue has also overshadowed Russia‘s preparations for the 2018 football World Cup. The draw in Moscow was scheduled for later Friday, and chief organizer Vitaly Mutko, himself implicated by McLaren as former Russian sports minister, insisted again there were no wide-ranging doping practices."I am ready to go to any court, any disciplinary body, and say that in Russia there has never been and never will be any programme to cover up doping," he said.Mutko said doping in Russia was "being blown out of all proportion and elsewhere it is hush hush." He also vouched for the Russian footballers, saying: "There is no manipulation of our national team in football - will never be, has never been."