Decision rendered by the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) - Timofey Lapshin - Biathlon
Press Release
17th May 2021
The Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) has issued the following decision in relation to the Russian biathlete (affiliated with the Korean Biathlon Union since 2017) Timofey Lapshin (the Athlete):
• Timofey Lapshin is found guilty of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) in accordance with Article 2.2 of the 2012 International Biathlon Union Anti-Doping Rules (IBU ADR).
• Timofey Lapshin is sanctioned with a twelve (12) month period of ineligibility starting from the date of the final CAS ADD Award (23 April 2021), with credit given for the period of provisional suspension served since 23 September 2020.
• All competitive results obtained Timofey Lapshin at the 10km sprint in Izhevsk on 21 December 2013 are disqualified with all resulting consequences (including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes).
In September 2020, the IBU informed the Athlete of newly discovered evidence concerning the sample provided by him during an in-competition doping control conducted by the Russia AntiDoping Agency at the “Izhevsk Rifle” competition held in Izhevsk, Russia in December 2013. On reanalysis, the sample had been found to contain tuaminoheptane, a specified substance under the 2013 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
The Sole Arbitrator determined that the source of the prohibited substance was a nasal spray (which was identified by the Athlete on his Doping Control Form that accompanied his sample taken in 2013) and the anti-doping rule violation was not disputed by the Athlete.
As it concerned the sanction, however, the Sole Arbitrator found that the Athlete benefitted from a reduction in the otherwise applicable two-year sanction since he had been able to establish to the comfortable satisfaction of the Sole Arbitrator how the prohibited substance entered his body and that he did not intend to enhance his sport performance or cheat. This said, the Athlete was considered at fault for knowingly ingesting a prohibited substance out-of-competition despite his mistaken belief that the substance would be washed out of his body before his next competition. On balance, the Sole Arbitrator considered the Athlete to have a “normal” degree of fault which justified a 12-month period of ineligibility and the disqualification of any results obtained by the Athlete at the 10km sprint in Izhevsk on 21 December 2013.
The decision, currently subject to confidentiality restrictions, is expected to be published on the section of the CAS website dedicated to CAS ADD Jurisprudence at a later stage.
