An Italian anti-doping prosecutor seeks a four-year ban for figure skater Carolina Kostner in an investigation into her ex-boyfriend and Olympic race-walking champion Alex Schwazer.
Kostner, the reigning Olympic and World bronze medalist, said in June (three months before she was called to a hearing in the Schwazer investigation) that she would sit out the 2014-15 season. At 27, she became the second oldest women’s figure skating medalist since 1928 in Sochi, according to sports-reference.com.
The 2008 Olympic champion Schwazer tested positive for EPO in 2012, was excluded from the London Olympics and banned for four years.
Prosecutors believe Kostner aided Schwazer in avoiding drug testers when they were together, which is why they are seeking the four-year ban. Kostner has denied wrongdoing.
Kostner was with Schwazer in at least one instance where Schwazer met a banned doctor who used to work with Lance Armstrong – Michele Ferrari – but her attorney said Kostner didn’t know who Ferrari was and that she did not know Schwazer doped.