Olga FATKULINA

DOPING CLAIMS
In 2017, the IOC sanctioned 42 Russian athletes, including Fatkulina, for alleged doping at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Fatkulina had her silver medal from the 500m stripped and she received a lifetime ban. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which found that the evidence put forward by the IOC in her case was insufficient and her medal was reinstated and the ban rescinded. Despite being cleared, she was unable to compete at PyeongChang 2018 as she was not approved by the IOC selection committee. (tas-cas.org, 1 Feb 2018; olympics.com, 24 Nov 2017; rt.com, 6 Feb 2018)

EARLY YEARS
"I was six years old when my brother and me were left without parents [her mother died, her father ran away]. We lived with our uncle and grandmother, the four of us in a single-room apartment in Chelyabinsk. Grandma required full submission. She was brought up in a military environment and raised her five children in a military manner. That's how she raised us as well." (aif.ru, 23 Feb 2014)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

Finished tenth in the 500m at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

In 2013, she became the first Russian woman to win a world title in the 1000m. Her title was also the first by a Russian woman since Svetlana Zhurova won 500m gold in 1996.