The Macedonian Olympic Committee (IOC) promoted the names of the athletes who will defend the colors of our country at the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina and Milan at a press conference.
Although he was announced as one of the participants, Mirko Lazareski did not appear before the media, and his replacement will be Viktor Petkov.
The reason why Lazareski will not be among the passengers, as was unofficially reported, is that he allegedly failed a doping test. The IOC confirmed this information today.
In the interest of objective and truthful information to citizens and the sports public, and in order to fully comply with the legal procedure that binds them, the IOC is transmitting the official information submitted by the National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO MKD) regarding the change in the Olympic roster for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.
– Based on the official Test Report received from the accredited laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, one of the two samples has been found to contain prohibited substances in the alpine skiing athlete. As a result of the strictly and precisely prescribed WADA procedure, until the final confirmation of the finding, the procedures provide for a temporary suspension of the athlete and the replacement mechanism from the previously determined list of potential candidates (“long list”) is activated. According to this official ranking system, the next athlete with a fulfilled Olympic quota is Viktor Petkov, who procedurally becomes part of the official delegation – the IOC announcement states.
For all additional details, questions and official positions regarding this case, the IOC directs everyone to contact the competent institution NADO MKD, which is solely authorized to communicate information on this topic.
