Police have carried out a search of the home of German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle following her positive doping test at the Winter Olympics, Germany’s Sochi Games team chief said on Saturday.
German team delegation chief Michael Vesper told reporters an investigation ordered by prosecutors on Friday was focusing on the use of food or dietary supplements. Vesper said it was believed Sachenbacher-Stehle had used a dietary supplement containing a prohibited stimulant.
The 33-year-old two-time Olympic cross-country relay gold medallist has been stripped of her results at the Sochi Games following the positive test.
Following a disciplinary hearing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said late Friday she was retrospectively disqualified after finishing fourth in both biathlon 12.5km massed start and mixed relay events.
The IOC has asked the International Biathlon Union to remove her from the results lists, meaning the German mixed relay team also loses its fourth-placed finish.
Sachenbacher-Stehle and Italian bobsledder William Frullani were expelled by their teams from the Winter Olympics on Friday after being tested positive for banned stimulants.
The German Olympic Association DOSB said Sachenbacher-Stehle tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexanamine.
In a statement on Friday, Sachenbacher-Stehle said: “I am experiencing the worst nightmare you can imagine because I cannot at all explain how the positive test has come about.”
Frullani failed a doping test in the Olympic Village on February 18 for dymethylpentylamine. Originally used as a nasal decongestant, the substance is also found in supplements and is classified as a prohibited stimulant.
