Mariya Savinova


Mariya Sergeyevna Savinova is a Russian former athlete who specialized in the 800 metres event. In 2017, she was found guilty of doping and was subsequently suspended from competition for four years. In addition to the ban, she had three years of elite results nullified and was stripped of both her World Championship medals and her Athletics at the [2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres|2012 Olympic gold medal].

Career

Savinova was born in Chelyabinsk. In 2009, she became the European indoor champion in the 800-metres and the World indoor champion one year later. She originally was awarded gold medals at the 2011 [World Championships in Athletics – Women's 800 metres|2011 World Championships] in Daegu, and the 2012 [Summer Olympics">Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres">2012 [Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres|2012] Olympic Games in London. In 2013, she captured silver in the 800-metres in the World Championships in Moscow.

Doping suspension

In December 2014, in an undercover documentary filmed by a Russian whistleblower which aired on German TV, Savinova admitted to injecting testosterone and using the anabolic steroid oxandrolone. She said, "Oxandrolone is very quickly out of my body again. It takes less than 20 days. We have tested that. My husband has very good contacts at the doping control laboratory." The footage led to Savinova's blood samples being re-examined and launched an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency into Russia.
In August 2015, the IAAF charged her with doping violations. The case was referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2017.” Not long after, in November 2015, Savinova was one of five Russian runners the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended to receive a lifetime ban for doping during the London Olympics, along with Ekaterina Poistogova.
On 10 February 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a 43-page opinion which noted that, “It follows from the information and intelligence provided by Ms. Yuliya Stepanova that the Athlete used prohibited substances over a long period of time." The CAS upheld the four-year ban for Savinova, disqualified her results from July 2010 to August 2013, and forfeited her of the medals she was awarded during that time, including prize money and appearance fees.