Russian gold-medal winner Alexander Legkov skis past the Olympic rings during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Krasnaya Polyana on Feb. 23, 2014. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Thursday to reinstate Legkov as gold medallist in men's 50-km cross-country skiing, which he had been stripped of due to doping allegations. Twenty-seven other Russian athletes were also reinstated. (Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press)
Sport's highest tribunal on Thursday overturned the Olympic doping bans of 28 Russian athletes and reinstated their results at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi in upholding their appeals.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement that it had found insufficient evidence during last week's hearing in Geneva that the 28, banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), were guilty of anti-doping violations in Sochi.
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"With respect to these 28 athletes, the appeals are upheld, the sanctions annulled and their individual results achieved in Sochi 2014 are reinstated," said the Lausanne-based tribunal.
The 28 who had their bans lifted could now seek late entry into the Olympics, which start Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but the IOC said "not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation."
The World Anti-Doping Agency said late Thursday it "notes with serious concern" the CAS decision and did not rule out an appeal.
"WADA understands that this decision will cause dismay and frustration among athletes. The agency supports the IOC's intention to analyze these decisions very carefully and consider all options, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the ruling "can't fail to please us, and it confirms our position that the overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean athletes."
However, Putin also called for respect for the IOC, saying in comments reported by state news agency RIA Novosti that "there should not be any euphoria from our side and we need to be calm about this."
Lifetime Olympic bans reduced
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said at a televised cabinet meeting that the government would back further legal action to allow the athletes to compete in Pyeongchang "if the IOC does not accept them."
Eleven other athletes were confirmed by CAS to have committed doping violations. However, CAS reduced their lifetime Olympic bans to a suspension from this year's Games.
The IOC had previously banned Russia from Pyeongchang as a result of its "unprecedented systematic manipulation" of the anti-doping system.
Thursday's decision could impact Canada's medal count in Sochi.
The Canadian luge team was expected to get upgraded to bronze — the first Olympic medal for Canada in the sport — after Russians Albert Demchenko and Tatiana Ivanova were stripped of their results and received lifetime bans. Both were members of the squad that won silver in the team event in Sochi, where Canada finished fourth.
Both Russians had their suspensions reversed and results reinstated by CAS on Thursday, prompting a strong reaction on social media from Sam Edney, one of the Canadian lugers who would have received bronze.
Olympic gold medallist Beckie Scott, who serves as the chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency's athlete committee, said Edney has "every right" to be frustrated and called the CAS ruling a "massive setback" in the general fight against doping.
"This is a huge failure of the entire system to protect clean athletes and to work on their behalf, and athletes like Sam Edney have every right to feel angry and frustrated and disappointed," the three-time Olympian told The Canadian Press in a phone interview. "They have been let down by the system."
Scott had her bronze medal from the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 upgraded to silver when Russia's Larisa Lazutina was stripped of second place for doping. That silver was then promoted to gold after it was revealed first-place finisher Olga Danilova of Russia had tested positive for doping during the Games.
Individual Russian athletes are able to compete as neutrals if they can prove their anti-doping credentials, but the IOC said Thursday that the 28 would not necessarily be invited to Pyeongchang.
"Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation," it said...
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