January 29, 2015 (Moscow, Russia) – In separate announcements, Russian authorities revealed that three junior cross-country ski stars and a biathlete have tested positive for banned substances report RUSADA, and l’Équipe.

“The Cross Country Federation of Russia, following the materials provided by RUSADA, rendered a decision that made Mashkin N.E. and Kalinina A.G. ineligible for two years for the anti-doping rule violation, the period commencing on April 22, 2014,” reads a Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) press release.

Mashkin, 20, is the country’s reigning national junior cross-country skiing champion over 50km. The “Kalinina” referred to above is apparently Arina Kalinina, 19 who finished second in the July 2013 Team Sprint F of the Roller Skiing Junior World Cup in Novgorod, Russia.

A separate RUSADA press release reads: “The Cross Country Federation of Russia, upon a decision of the Disciplinary Anti-doping Committee, rendered a decision that made Gavrilova U.O. ineligible for two years for the anti-doping rule violation, the period commencing on September 23, 2014.”

SkiTrax believes this athlete is Ulyana Gavrilova, 21, who won the Roller Skiing World Cup SP F Final in Val di Fiemme, Italy on Sept. 20, 2014.

Meanwhile, Alexander Loginov, 22, a Russian and four-time junior world biathlon champion, failed a doping test in November, 2013 according to l’Équipe, a daily newspaper based in France. For some reason, there was a delay of over one year before his positive test result was announced on Jan. 29, 2015. Loginov won the 4 x 7.5 km relay in Annecy on December 13, 2013. He also finished 30th in the 10km at the Sochi Games in February 2014.

As reported earlier, German journalist Hajo Seppelt produced a documentary TV program in 2014 alleging widespread and systemic doping in Russia. Cross-country skiing was among those sports cited in the documentary.

RUSADA here.

L’Équipe (French) here.

SkiTrax’s previous report on Russian doping here.