September 11, 2010 – The Russian Ski Federation appears to be standing behind its claim to get tough on doping. According to a report by RIO Novosti, posted on skirun.ru, Russian Olympian Nikolai Pankratov was detained by authorities while attempting to cross the Swiss border with doping paraphernalia.

Pankratov now faces a racing ban of up to two years unless he is able to prove that his possession of 22 vials of actovegin and intravenous equipment was intended for medical use only. According to the head of the Russian Winter Sport Association, Sergei Korolev, Pankratov could be looking at the maximum penalty for an infraction of this kind, which is two years. “We’ll know for sure on Monday when he returns from abroad. We’ll take him to explain [before] the Anti-Doping Commission of FIS, or do a teleconference, where he is to answer several questions. This will be determine the degree of his guilt.”

Actovegin alone is not on the WADA prohibited substances list, but according Korolev, the possession of both such large a quantity of vials and the intravenous equipment was suspicious enough to warrant Pankratov’s detention.

Actovegin is a protein-free derivative of filtered calf’s blood. It made headlines in North America in 2009 when Anthony Galea, MD, a Canadian, was arrested in Toronto on charges of providing actovegin and other substances to athletes. Tiger Woods and other professional athletes were linked to the case as a patient of Dr Galea, though to date none have been charged.

The news of Pankratov’s alleged doping could jeopardize Russia’s chances of fielding its best team at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 even though Pankratov is currently not a member of the Russian national team.

Russia has been under fire lately from the international skiing community for it’s shoddy record of combating doping. The Russian Winter Sport Association was recently fined $154,000 by FIS, and has been threatened with further sanctions and possibly even expulsion from the Sochi games if they don’t clean up their act. The Pankratov situation is only weakening the already thin ice that the Russian Winter Sport Association is standing on, but it is also proof that they are serious about cleaning things up.

“We will be working on this,” said Korolev. “Pankratova is of course a tragedy, and we will help him. But we understand that if the verification shows that it really was an offense, then there is nothing we can do.”

Within the skirun.ru report there are also allegations that Pankratov, a medal winner from both the 2005 and 2007 World Championships (3rd and 2nd in the 4 x 10km relay), may have been on his way to train with Czech powerhouse Lucas Bauer.

With files from skirun.ru. To read the report, click HERE.