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Ousted Russian pairs champions withdraw after failed drug test
Posted: Monday March 27, 2000 04:41 PM
NICE, France (AP) -- The European title Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won last month might be in jeopardy after Berezhnaya failed a drug test. The Russian pairs champions withdrew from the World Figure Skating Championships on Sunday after learning of the test result. The withdrawal came a day before they were to begin their short program. Berezhnaya gave the sample on Feb. 9 in Austria, where the pair won the European title. Berezhnaya said the substance, identified by officials as a stimulant, was taken inadvertently to treat bronchitis, the International Skating Union said. She declined an option for a second test, which if negative would have allowed the Russians to compete. Withdrawals for banned substances are rare in figure skating -- and there was a second Sunday -- another pair much lower in the rankings, Natalia Ponomareva and Yevgeny Sviridov of Uzbekistan. Sviridov also tested positive for stimulants, the ISU said. ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta said the ISU received the positive tests three days ago, and informed the respective federations the next day. The ISU council will discuss the matter when it meets April 3-4. First offenders for stimulant use face a possible three-month suspension. "I am sad," Cinquanta said. "I am also glad that in the area of doping two countries have waived the tests of the B sample. This in my opinion sends a very important message, and shows a very high sense of responsibility." Both pairs could have chosen to skate while the second tests were conducted, putting into question the championships' outcome, especially with Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze favorites to win. With the two-time world champions and 1998 Olympic silver medalists out, the pairs competition will now focus on fellow Russian skaters Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov and the Chinese couple Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who finished second at world's last year. The second Russian pair won the 1999 Europeans after Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze withdrew because of her flu, despite winning the short. The withdrawal boosts the medal chances for American champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, who share coach Tamara Moskvina with Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. "I was just shocked," Tikhonov said of the Russians' withdrawal. "We just saw them training. It's hard for us. We like to compete against them." The favorites in the men's competition, Alexei Yagudin and Yevgeny Plushchenko, skate in different groups during Monday's qualifying round. Yagudin has won the title the past two years but has been beaten twice this year by Plushchenko, including the European championships last month when Yagudin was hampered by a broken hand. Yagudin's coach, Tatiana Tarasova, said the hand is better but Yagudin will have surgery after the championships. In the meantime, Yagudin has changed his program to a more classical routine. "It brings Alexei into a new direction with this music," Tarasova said. Plushchenko has not lost since last October and has been hitting quads consistently, including his impressive quad-triple-double. Americans Michael Weiss and Tim Goebel are in separate groups. Weiss took the American title but Goebel, who has recently split with his coach, hit three quads in one routine for the second time this season. The women's qualifying round will be held Wednesday, with medal favorites Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya skating head-to-head in a matchup likely to influence the title. Defending world champion Maria Butyrskaya of Russia, another medal contender though not skating as strongly as last year, is in the other, weaker qualifying group. The qualifying round counts for 20 percent of the final score, with the short program adding 30 percent and the long program the final 50 percent. The qualifying round will lend a psychological edge to each group's winners, though lower-placed competitors won't be out of the running for the gold medal. In their last direct competition, Slutskaya beat Kwan in the Grand Prix final last January in Lyon, France.
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