Protection of reputation

Russian figure skater Alexandra Stepanova slams foreign media over doping-abuse claims.

A number of foreign media outlets reported referring to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) that the 24-year-old figure skater must return her all medals, which she won starting from November 2018, due to confirmed violations of anti-doping regulations.

RUSADA published a statement on Wednesday that Russia’s track and field athlete specializing in running, Alexandra Stepanova, who shares the exact first and last name with the figure skater, had her all results cancelled because of her four-year disqualification over positive results for the banned performance enhancing drugs.

"All these media reports under the current situation are simply beyond imaginable boundaries. Respected media outlets publish their materials globally via the Internet. Such incidents may inflict a great damage to the life of an athlete and this is a very serious matter. This is extremely regrettable that they treat our lives, as well as their work, in such an unscrupulous manner" - Stepanova told TASS.

Paired up with Ivan Bukin, Russian’s figure skating ice dancer Stepanova is a three-time bronze medalist of the European Figure Skating Championships (2015, 2018 and 2020) in addition to her silver from the 2019 European championship in Minsk.

Alexander Kogan, General Director of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, confirmed that the Federation can sue publications that publish fake news.

Source: https://tass.com/sport/1142531

Image: https://tass.ru/sport/7288013?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=1100&caption=%D0%A2%D0%90%D0%A1%D0%A1