Posted November. 24, 2017 09:16,
Updated November. 24, 2017 09:40
Russian skeleton athlete and Olympic champion Alexander Tretyakov has been banned for life from the Olympics after being found guilty of doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. He was also stripped of his Olympic medal from the Sochi Games. He is one of the biggest rivals of Yun Sung-bin, the flagship player of the Korean men's skeleton.
The punitive action will likely change the situation for the competition for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Tretyakov was one of the favorites for the gold along with Yun and Martins Dukurs, the reigning skeleton champion from Latvia.
Dukurs finished first in the 2017 BMW International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in Park City, Utah, followed by Yun and Tretyakov. With Tretyakov banned from the Olympics, the PyeongChang race will likely between a match between Yun and Dukurs.