Biathlon body clears 22 Russians of doping allegations, investigating 7 others
Cases based on evidence provided by WADA in December's McLaren Report
The International Biathlon Union has cleared 22 athletes and given the Russian federation an ultimatum to explain by next month what role seven others played in alleged state doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The IBU announced that Russia "is to provide the IBU with a detailed and fully documented report with respect to the seven cases under investigation."
The IBU had opened an inquiry last month into 29 unnamed athletes named in the McLaren report but said Saturday that "there is no sufficient evidence" to continue investigating 22 of them.
An IBU executive board meeting on Feb. 9 will determine the status of the seven athletes still under investigation for the world championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, beginning the same day.
The cases are based on evidence provided last month by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren.
McLaren detailed vast state-backed cheating in Russian sport that included swapping athletes' tainted samples for clean urine through the testing laboratory at Sochi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied there was a state-backed program.