February 23, 2014 (Sochi, Russia) – The number of doping cases at the Sochi Games has now grown to six, three of whom are cross-country skiers or biathletes reports AP. Johannes Duerr, an Austrian cross-country skier admitted to taking EPO, while Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor tested positive for an unspecified stimulant.

Duerr apparently failed a doping test in Austria after he returned there from Sochi after competing in the Skiathlon where he placed eighth. Duerr, who then went back to Sochi, was supposed to take part in the 50km mass start on Feb. 23. Duerr, 36, finished third in the 2013–14 Tour de Ski.

Doping scandals have hit Austrian skiers before; during the 2006 Turin Games, Italian police raided the Austrian cross-country and biathlon team’s lodgings in Italy, seizing blood doping equipment and other substances. No Austrians tested positive in Turin, but the IOC later banned several of them for life.

The list of doping cases at Sochi now includes Swedish hockey player Nicklas Backstrom, Latvia hockey player Vitalijs Pavlovs, Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor, Italian bobsledder William Frullani, and German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle. As reported previously, Sachenbacher-Stehle has competed in previous Olympics as a cross-country skier, winning medals.

Apart from Duerr, the others all tested positive for “minor” stimulants often found in food supplements and these should result in lesser sanctions. Testing continues on the 2,631 samples taken at the Sochi Games.

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