ZABELINSKAYA Olga

Type of rider
Time-trialist (SportsDeskOnline, 20 Jul 2016)

General
REPRESENTING UZBEKISTAN
In August 2018 she announced her intention to switch allegiance from the Russian Federation to Uzbekistan. She had hoped to compete for Uzbekistan at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, but was deemed ineligible after official communications from the Russian Olympic Committee and Russian Cycling Federation to approve and confirm her release to Uzbekistan were not provided. She filed an application to the Ad-Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] on-site in Indonesia the day before the women's individual time trial at the Games, but it was dismissed and she was unable to take part in the Games. She was motivated to switch allegiance out of concerns she might be ruled ineligible to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games due to a previous doping violation. "You see what has been happening in Russian sport over the last two Olympic cycles. It all started in Rio, then the situation only deteriorated in Pyeongchang. I have a feeling that in Tokyo everything will be even worse. I'm 99% confident that my participation in the 2020 Olympics will be impossible under the Russian flag." (insidethegames.biz, 23 Aug 2018; olympics.nbcsports.com, 08 Aug 2018)

RIO REPRIEVE
She was one of several Russian athletes who were initially denied the opportunity to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to previous doping violations. However, just days before the start of the Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] ruled that those athletes should not be prevented from competing and she was thus reinstated. "On August 5th, I had my ticket to [return home] to Russia at 2 o'clock, and at 11 o'clock, on the way to the airport, they tell me I stay here [in Rio de Janeiro]. It was two weeks like this, in the morning we go, in the evening we don't." She went on to win a silver medal in the individual time trial at the Games. (reuters.com, 11 Aug 2016; tass.com, 06 Aug 2016)

SANCTION
In March 2014 she tested positive for the banned substance octopamine. She did not compete for 18 months from June that year, despite maintaining her innocence. In December 2015 the anti-doping commission of the Russian Cycling Federation [RCF] cleared her of any wrongdoing, which caused the International Cycling Union [UCI] to appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS]. In February 2016 the RCF announced that Zabelinskaya had reached a settlement with the UCI [an 18-month ban that expired in September 2015] that allowed her to continue competing and aim for a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (fvsr.ru, 13 Feb 2016; ria.ru, 13 Feb 2016)

BREAK
In 2007 she began a three-year hiatus from cycling before returning in 2010. "I was tired of the sport, took a rest and came back." (Athlete, 23 Apr 2016)