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IOC bans four Russian cross-country skiers over doping

ZURICH (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee banned four Russian cross-country skiers from future Games after finding on Thursday that they violated anti-doping rules at the 2014 Sochi Games.

"As a result, the four Russian cross country skiers Yuliia Ivanova, Alexey Petukhov, Evgeniya Shapovalova and Sochi 2014 three-time silver medallist Maksim Vylegzhanin have been sanctioned," the IOC said in a statement, stripping Vylegzhanin of his medals. An unnamed fifth athlete escaped punishment.

Russia's cross-country federation had announced the bans earlier.

(Reporting by John Miller and Michael Shields)