Alexander Legkov, the lone Russian cross-country skier to take gold at the Sochi Olympics who was later banned for most of 2017, had that gold stripped for three months and was excluded from the PyeongChang Winter Games, has reportedly retired from international competition.
“I say stop here to my professional career on international tournaments,” Legkov said Friday, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Legkov, 34, led a Russian sweep of the 50km in podium in Sochi. He also took silver as part of the 4x10km relay.
The three-time Olympian saw his career turn in May 2016, when CBS and The New York Times first reported about a Sochi doping list kept by Grigory Rodchenkov, former director of a Moscow drug-testing lab.
Legkov was one of many Russian medalists from Sochi who were on a state-run doping program leading into the Sochi Games, according to those reports.
Legkov said in 2016 that he had never failed a doping test, claiming he was tested so often that he couldn’t have doped without being caught, according to The Associated Press.
“You’d have to be a complete kamikaze to do that in Russia if you’re an athlete representing our nation,” Legkov said then, according to the AP.
In December 2016, Legkov and Sochi 50km silver medalist Maxim Vylegzhanin were among six Russian skiers named in the McLaren report on Russian doping in Sochi and suspended from international competition by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Then on Nov. 1, Legkov became the first Russian retroactively banned from the Sochi Olympics and excluded from all future Games by the IOC. His medals were stripped, though he was allowed to compete until FIS suspended him again Nov. 30.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted the Olympic ban and reinstated the medals on Feb. 1 due to insufficient evidence. Legkov and other Russians appealed to be allowed into the PyeongChang Olympics, but the IOC’s decision not to invite them was upheld.
Legkov competed in small events in Russia in February and March.
Vylegzhanin, whose three silver medals in Sochi were also stripped in November and reinstated Feb. 1, reportedly said earlier this week that he will retire after the 2018-19 season.
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