Cyclists, weightlifters and dancer among latest Russians banned for doping

RUSADA have announced bans for five athletes ©RUSADA

Two weightlifters have been given four-year bans for breaching anti-doping rules as the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) announced the decisions of cases involving five athletes.

Azamat Dzhioev, a Russian junior silver medallist, has received the second doping ban of his career, having been previously been suspended for two-year period from May 2012 to 2014 after a previous violation.

Dzhioev has been given four-year ban on this occasion by the Russian Weightlifting Federation, backdated to March 24, 2015.

The Federation have gave Dzhioev’s 23-year-old team-mate Sergey Zhuromskiy a four-year ban, with the Russian Cup bronze medal-winning weightlifter’s suspension being backdated to the date of the offence on February 9, 2015.

RUSADA have also revealed that two cyclists from the Itera-Katusha team, the junior squad of Russian WorldTour registered Katusha, have received bans.

Ivan Lutsenko, a silver medallist in the men’s time trial at the Russian national under-23 Championships in June, has been given a one-year suspension alongside team-mate Andrey Lukonin.

Both bans have been backdated the August 3.

The suspension willl be a blow to the Katusha team, briefly denied a WorldTour licence by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in December 2012 following several doping violations in their team.

The Russian-registered squad were, however, granted the top tier racing status having had the verdict overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February 2013.

Dancer Andrey Gusev is among the latest athletes to have been banned by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency ©YouTube

The Russian Dancesport Federation have handed Andrey Gusev a one-year suspension following an investigation by RUSADA.

Gusev’s ban has been backdated to February 20, the day before he won gold with his partner Ekaterina Nikolaeva in the adult latin event at the World Dance Sport Federation World Open, which took place in Moscow.

Should the medals be reallocated fellow Russians Alexandr Makarov and Julia Remizova would be in line for the gold, having finished second.

The substances used in each of the cases has not been disclosed by RUSADA.

The cases come as another blow to Russian sport following the suspension of All-Russia Athletics Federation by the International Association of Athletics Federations following the report by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Independent Commission into allegations of state-supported doping.

The Commission's report led to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow being suspended and RUSADA being declared "non-compliant".

Additionally, the Russian Biathlon Union yesterday accepted a fine after three doping cases involving their athletes in recent months, while concerns over doping at the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics have also been raised.