Three Russian triathletes involved in doping violations since August 10

Russia was technically banned from the Olympic Games after years of violating anti-doping rules, which is why Russion athletes were competing for the Russian Olympic Committee in Tokyo. Triathlon is getting another taste of the issues around Russian doping over the last few days with the news of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) and the suspension of another Russian athlete for blood manipulation over the last four days, along with the news that Igor Polyanskiy also tested positive for EPO during an out of competition drug test in July.

Yesterday World Triathlon reported “that a sample collected from Alexander Bryukhankov (pictured above), a triathlete from Russia, has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for recombinant Erythropoietin (EPO).” The test was done at the Europe Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Bryukhankov has the right to request his B sample be tested, so World Triathlon cannot comment further on the case.

That comes just a few days after it was announced that Russian triathlete Vladimir Turbayevskiy “has been suspended of competition” due to abnormalities in his blood passport, which indicate blood manipulation.

“This is the first case in World Triathlon or ITU history of an abnormality found in the Athlete’s Biological Passport,” the report says.