FOUR MORE RUSSIANS BANNED FOR DOPING
Four more Russians were banned by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday for doping at the 2014 Sochi Games, including a gold medalist.
All four competed in skeleton and include men’s gold medalist Alexander Tretyakov and women’s bronze medalist Elena Nikitina.
Two other Russian women who didn’t win medals, Maria Orlova and Olga Potylitsina, were also banned.
Ten Russians have been banned so far on evidence of a state-sponsored doping program in Sochi, including samples being swapped in the laboratory.
Russia has now been stripped of six medals, two of them gold. All the previous bans were in cross-country skiing.
The ban for Tretyakov puts Latvia in line for its first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal. If the IOC formally reallocates the medals, Martins Dukurs would be upgraded to gold. It would also mean silver for Matthew Antoine of the United States and bronze for Dukurs’ brother, Tomass.
In the women’s event, Nikitina’s bronze would go to Breckenridge’s Katie Uhlaender, who originally missed the podium by 0.04 seconds.
“The IOC taking a stand like this and doing the right thing has restored my faith in the system and the sport,” Uhlaender said. “I’m just even more motivated and honored to be a part of this movement and I want to be on that podium in Korea and prove it was not a fluke. I’m just overwhelmed right now. But this has definitely added fuel to my fire.”
Russia withdraws bid.
Russia has withdrawn a bid to host the 2023 basketball World Cup, saying that international criticism of the country’s athletes was to blame for the decision.
Russian Basketball Federation president and former NBA All-Star Andrei Kirilenko says the bid was pulled “taking into account the negative attitude of the world sports community to Russian athletes and our country’s sport in general.”
Russia’s doping scandals across various sports have caused it to be stripped of numerous Olympic medals, although Kirilenko didn’t directly link the decision to doping scandals.
That leaves ruling body FIBA with two joint bids for the tournament, one from Argentina and Uruguay, the other from the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Rockies trade minor-leaguer.
BALTIMORE» The Orioles acquired minor-league pitcher Konner Wade from the Rockies for $500,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation.
Orioles vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette confirmed the deal.
Baltimore also acquired outfielder Jaycob Brugman from Oakland for cash or a player to be named.
Wade was Colorado’s seventhround pick in the 2013 amateur draft. The 6-foot-3 right-hander was a reliever and starter over the last two seasons for Double-A Hartford. The 25-year-old is 29-35 with a 4.05 ERA over five minor league seasons. He has 354 strikeouts in 137 games.
Colorado’s international bonus pool total rose to $6.25 million for the signing period ending next June 15, of which $5.74 million has been spent.
Ausmus joins Angels.
CALIF.» Former Detroit manager Brad Ausmus has joined the Los Angeles Angels as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler.
Ausmus managed the Tigers for the past four seasons, going 314-332 and winning the AL Central in 2014. Detroit went 64-98 this season, and Ausmus’ contract was not renewed.
The veteran catcher worked in the San Diego Padres’ front office between his playing career and his fouryear stint with the Tigers.
Ausmus is filling a role in Anaheim previously held by Bud Black, who was a special assistant to Eppler from November 2015 to November 2016, when he was hired as the Colorado Rockies’ manager.