Russian athletes stripped of their titles from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics over allegations of doping will not return their medals until an appeal has been heard, the country’s sports ministry said on Wednesday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday sanctioned five Russian athletes, including two four-man bobsleigh champions and two biathlon silver medalists, following recommendations from the Oswald Commission into the doping scandal.
“The Russian Bobsleigh Federation and the Cross Country Ski Federation of Russia are ready to appeal at the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS),” the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Interfax press agency.
Athletes “have no intention of turning in their medals” before the appeal, the statement added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov decried the “baseless decisions” of the IOC and promised to “defend our athletes actively and with energy”.
