Russian artistic swimmer Mariia Nemchinova has been stripped of all results dating back to July 2014, including two gold medals at the 2016 World Junior Championships, as the result of an anti-doping control test.
Nemchinova was already suspended for two years from May 19, 2022 through May 24, 2024 for use of a prohibited method, but a retest from July 8, 2014 resulted in further sanctions.
Nemchinova is a part of the Russian synchronized swimming machine that is the most successful in the world. At the 2015 European Games, which served as that year’s European Junior Championships, she was a member of the Russian squad in the Team event and in the Free Combination event, both of which won gold medals.
She also won two gold medals at the 2016 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships and a silver in 2014 in the Team Free Combination event.
Only Nemchinova will lose her medal as a result of the disqualification. Under World Anti-Doping Code rules, team medals are only stripped if at least three members of a team are individually sanctioned for violations during the period of that event.
The suspension resulted from a backdated test from July 8, 2014. It’s not clear whether this was part of the program of unraveling years of coverup of Russian anti-doping violations that last year netted suspensions for three retired Russian pool swimmers.
Nemchinova is one of 10 Russian aquatics athletes currently suspended according to FINA’s public list, with three more Russians having their suspensions expire in the last six weeks of 2022.
