Russian skiing champion banned from Sochi Olympics

Moscow, Dec 9 (IANS) Russian freestyle skiing star Anna Orlovskaya will miss the Sochi Winter Olympics for abusing anti-doping rules, the national anti-doping agency said Monday.

With less than two months remaining until the start of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the 18-year-old Russian champion in slopestyle and ski half-pipe disciplines has been banned from competitions for two years, reports Xinhua.

The agency did not specify what Orlovskaya’s exact offence was but said the decision was made on Nov 19.

She finished ninth at the World Cup slopestyle competition and 13th at the World Junior Championships, both in March.

The rising Russian star thus also missed the slopestyle competitions which started in Canada Friday.

The Sochi Olympics will feature slopestyle event for the first time in the Games history.