While the world cross-country skiing championships have just opened in Germany, return to the 50km of the Sochi 2014 Olympics, where the 6th place of the Dauphinois, Robin Duvillard, remains symbolic of the difficulties of the fight against doping.
Seven years later, Robin Duvillard do not know where he really finished the queen event of the Sochi Olympics, this 50km in cross-country skiing. This February 23, 2014, yet in great shape, the sportsman from Dauphiné crossed the finish line in 6th position.
The race was won by the Russian Alexander Legkov, ahead of two more of his compatriots. Many international reports point to an institutionalized doping situation in Russia, on the occasion of these Olympics. Seven years later, Robin Duvillard is still officially ranked 6th, even if two of the Russian medalists (including the Olympic champion) were – for a time – disqualified, before this sanction was canceled for lack of evidence.
“In the last bump, I feel like a caddy among the seniors” – Robin Duvillard
Robin Duvillard talks about this race at the microphone of France Bleu Isère: “in the last bump, I feel like a cadet among the seniors“, but he also returns to the suspicions of doping against Russia and the new analysis of samples planned for this year. But for Robin Duvillard, that won’t change much “No matter what I do, every time I watch the race again, I will always finish sixth in the pictures. If, tomorrow, it is really true, which seems to be the case for at least some of them, yes one will have stolen things from me, in particular the emotions. Even if one day, the ranking changes, everything will not be reassigned to me.“
Bronze medalist on the relay, during these same Sochi Olympics, Robin Duvillard retired in 2019.
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