Yaroslav Barichko, Belarus' Winter Olympics team chief has been suspended from the games. The decision to suspend Barichko came when a Belarus athlete, yet to be named, failed to show up for a second drugs test he was expected to take. The athlete's initial test had shown 380 times the permitted level of Nandrolone but the test proved invalid as the sample was not properly sealed, leading to the requirement for a second test.
The athlete failed to show however and so did Barichko despite being asked to attend by IOC president Jacques Rogge. IOC director general Francois Carrard said: "The chef de mission (Barighko) knew very well that the athlete was meant to appear for a test out of competition. I don't think testing is very valuable at this stage because of the elapsed time. We want to know exactly the circumstances of that, for us, very strange departure."
Filed by Johnny Proby
