Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov who was subjected to a police search hours before Saturday’s race has commented on the raid saying that he and his coach were suspected of using prohibited drugs.
Loginov told the media that he was awoken by police officers who broke into his hotel room early in the morning confiscating his personal belongings, including a laptop and a phone.
“They broke into our hotel room at 5.50am making some groundless accusations against us,” Loginov said. “They checked all my clothes, everything including wheels on my suitcase. I told them you may check everything, but seizing my phone and laptop is really beyond my understanding, because now I cannot even contact my family.”
The 2020 world sprint champion explained that an inappropriate accreditation of his coach Alexander Kasperovich was the reason for the investigation with International Biathlon Union (IBU) officials suspecting him of supplying the biathlete with performance-enhancing drugs.
“All this happened because of Kasperovich’s accreditation which was issued for another person. The IBU suspected that he is hiding under another name and supplies me with doping before races. These are just groundless suggestions I really have no words to describe what has happened,” Loginov said.
“We have been in close contact with Kasperovich, he helps me during the training process and fixes some organizational issues. He just wanted to support me right on the track during races that’s why he took someone‘s accreditation to enter the competition,” he added.
The athlete who has already taken two medals at the 2020 IBU World Championship suggested that all the provocative actions directed at him are made by people who want him to retire.
“Now, really nothing can surprise me. By acting like this all those people are just trying to accelerate the process of my retirement. If it is better for everybody, maybe I should do it in the near future. I’m not getting younger, maybe IBU really wants it,” the biathlete said.
