Russian triathlete Alexander Bryukhankov has been handed a three-year suspension following a positive test for EPO.
In what is effectively a ‘copy/paste’ of the recent suspension of Russian triathlete Igor Polyanskiy, the same sanction has been imposed on Bryukhankov. Also from Russia, Bryukhankov is a three-time Olympian. He finished seventh at the London 2012 Olympic Games, 12 months after taking silver at the Hyde Park test event.
EPO. Again.
As with Polyanskiy, the sample positive was for Erythropoietin (EPO), and further following the same script, Bryukhankov also waived the right for testing of the B sample, admitting the rule violation within 20 days of his initial charge.
As a result, he ‘therefore benefits from a reduction of one year in the presumptive four-years period of ineligibility.’
Having been provisionally suspended on 26 August 2021 (following an in-competition test at the European Championships in Kitzbuhel), he will be free to resume competition on 26 August 2024.
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