Russian high jumper Elena Slesarenko will appeal the IOC decision to annul her fourth place standing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after her doping samples turned out to be positive following a re-examination.
“My lawyers are formulating an appeal. A lawsuit will be filed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport .We are going to challenge this IOC decision,” Slesarenko told the Russian TASS news agency. She noted that the IOC decision was not unexpected. “It does not matter if I agree or disagree. All this is irrelevant. Everything will be settled in the courtroom.” Slesarenko said.
The 34-year-old Elena Slesarenko is the 2004 Athens Olympic high-jump gold-medal winner. She is also a two-time indoor world champion. Slesarenko retired from sports two years ago, and is currently the head of the Youth Policy Committee of the Volgograd region. On Thursday, the IOC announced it has annulled Slesarenko’s fourth place at the 2008 Olympics following a re-inspection of her doping test.
The IOC has included another 16 athletes (three Russians among them) in its newly published list of athletes whose 2008 Olympic doping samples tested positive after being re-checked. The other Russian athletes stripped of their medals include wrestler Hasan Baroyev (silver medal), weightlifters Khadzhimurat Akkayev and Dmitry Lapikovlov (bronze medals). The blood samples of all the four Russian athletes contained a banned substance called Turinabol.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.