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Sochi produces Winter Olympics record 8th doping case

Ralfs Freibergs

Latvia’s Ralfs Freibergs (top) trips over Finland’s Antti Pihlstrom during their 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round match at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

© Grigory Dukor / Reuters

Latvian hockey player Ralfs Freibergs was retroactively booted from the Sochi Olympics for failing a drug test after his nation was eliminated.

Freibergs’ expulsion marked a record eighth athlete disqualified from a single Winter Games, according to The Associated Press, citing the previous record as seven from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Freibergs, 22, failed a urine test from Feb. 20, shortly after Latvia was bounced from the hockey quarterfinals by Canada. He tested positive for a banned steroid.

The other seven Sochi Olympians to test positive:

Nicklas Backstrom, Sweden, hockey Vitalijs Pavlovs, Latvia, hockey Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, Germany, biathlon William Frullani, Italy, bobsled Daniel Zalewski, Poland, bobsled Johannes Duerr, Austria, cross-country skiing Marina Lisogor, Ukraine, cross-country skiing

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