Tatyana Pavlovna Firova (Russian: Татьяна Павловна Фирова; born October 10, 1982) is a Russian former sprint athlete. She was awarded the silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 2016, it was announced that a reanalysis of samples from the 2008 Summer Olympics resulted in a doping violation by Firova. She was disqualified from the competition, and she and her teammates were stripped of their 4 × 400 m relay silver medals.[1] She claimed that using banned substances was necessary for achieving good results: "A normal person can take banned substances if they want to. So why can't athletes take them as well? How else can we achieve high results?"[2] Although offending athletes are required to return their stripped medals to the IOC, Firova refused to return her medals.[3]
In February 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed her a four-year ban for doping, starting from 9 June 2016, and all of her results from 20 August 2008 to 31 December 2012 were disqualified.[4]
References
- ^ "IOC sanctions six athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". olympic.org. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "Russia doping scandal: Tatyana Firova suggests athletes should be able to take banned substances". independent.co.uk. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ Russian dopers ordered to return Olympic medals, some say no, Reuters, 11 August 2017, retrieved 22 October 2020
- ^ "Doping bans for 12 Russian athletes including 2012 Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
