| | NICE, France -- World figure skating pairs champion Elena Berezhnaya tested positive for a banned substance after taking cough medicine, her coach said on Monday.
The failed drug test forced her and pairs partner Anton
Sikharulidze to withdraw from this week's world championships.
Coach Tamara Moskvina told a packed press conference just
minutes before the start of the pairs competition: "The skaters
will not hide or run away."
Moskvina, who has coached numerous Olympic world champions
for Russia and the former Soviet Union, told reporters: "She
does not feel guilty for what she did.
"We never thought medicine would increase artistry, improve
their jumps or results in a competition."
Moskvina said the cough medicine containing the still
unnamed stimulant had been prescribed by a doctor in the United
States and that the skater had not knowingly done anything
wrong.
"I will learn the lesson from this case that I have to be
more careful," said Moskvina. "I will need to read a lot of
scientific stuff and learn the names of many substances."
She added: "In all my years in the sport we have always
considered taking doping a great disgrace.
"We considered we were well prepared and well trained
enough to win and have shown for years that we can win without
help from drugs.
"The only special pill I gave them was artistry and
preparation."
Under ISU rules, Berezhnaya could face a possible
three-month ban and the couple could be stripped of the European
title they won last month in Vienna where the test was taken.
She is the first woman in the sport's history to test positive.
Moskvina joked: "I was with her all day yesterday and we
were looking for a place on the mountains where we could jump
into the sea.
"But then we discussed it and realized we had done nothing
wrong...that we weren't criminals.
"We were not ashamed of anything we did and that night we
didn't end up in the sea but in a restaurant."
Neither Berezhnaya nor her partner attended the press
conference.
Instead, they moved down the road to Monte Carlo where they
will wait out the championships for the opportunity to defend
themselves at ISU council meetings on April 3-4.
Moskvina said: "They have done a great job for their
country all these years and I know the Russian federation will
support us - even the new president Mr. Putin who is from St
Petersburg."
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