Kazakh biathlete comments on controversial raid in Austria
"We were shocked when a large group of people came to our hotel last night and surrounded us. Like we were some kind of terrorists! It was very scary. Some were detained until two in the morning, some till four. First there was doping control then the police raided our rooms. After that we were taken to the police, were they filled a protocol and questioned us. All of us! Including the servicers. We haven't slept all night. Today we're out and speechless. It's very hard. This whole situation is very weird. But we have no doubt it all ends well. We are 100 percent confident they won't find anything illegal, because we never took any if this stuff", Poltoranina told Sport-express.ru.
It should be reminded that Kazakh national biathlon team was suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs. It is reported that illegal drugs were found on January 23rd on one of the gas stations in Inzell. In the box police found an accreditation card of Kazakh team's medic. The box was later handed over to the National Anti-Doping Agency of Austria
According to R-Sport, 30 police officers took part in the raid. In coordination with International Biathlon Union (IBU) Kazakh athletes had to pass new anti-doping tests.
Later, secretary general of Kazakh Biathlon Federation, Manas Usenov said that both the drugs and whether they belong to the team are being checked.
"Drugs were seized from the doctor. But we have permissions for all the medicines we have. It is too early to say if they are illegal or not", he said.
