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Russia’s Olympic Flagbearer in Sochi Banned for Life for Doping

Alexander Zubkov (r) / Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS

Russia's flag-bearer at the Sochi Winter Olympics has been stripped of his gold medals after a week that has seen Russia ousted from its first place in the Olympic ranking. 

Alexander Zubkov, a two-time Olympic bobsleigh champion, is one of fourteen Russian medalists to have been disqualified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this month.

The Sochi medal table is now topped by the U.S. and Norway.

The World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA) ruled earlier this month for the third year in a row that Russia’s anti-doping agency is not meeting international standards following allegations of state-sponsored doping.

The ruling precedes an IOC meeting on Dec. 5 during which it will be announced whether Russia is allowed to compete at the next Olympics in South Korea.

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