When something looks too good to be true, more often than not it is.
World Triathlon confirmed today that Russian triathlete Valentina Riasova has been issued with a two year doping ban. This comes four days after TriStats identified Riasova as the star performer on the Les Sables Vendée Triathlon team in the 2023 French Grand Prix.
Having been unable to race on the international circuit for a spell, seemingly due to Russia’s ban after the invasion of Ukraine, Riasova had found notable success on the French circuit. Wins in Metz and Quiberon preceded a silver medal at the final round in Saint-Jean-des-Monts. With three medals from three appearances, she was the centrepiece of her newly-promoted team.
Riasova defeated multiple talented athletes in the Grand Prix races, such as Jeanne Lehair, who twice finished in the top-5 at WTCS races this season.
However, it now appears that her performances have come under a cloud of doubt.
At the European Championships in Valencia in September 2021, Riasova gave an in-competition urine sample that returned traces of the prohibited substance 5-Methylhexaneamine.
A year later, in September 2022, World Triathlon concluded the case and issued Riasova with a six month ban to be served from from 12 September 2022 to 11 March 2023.
The case, though, was by no means over.
In a rather surprising turn, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) appealed against World Triathlon’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Instead of seeking to overturn the ban, RUSADA requested a longer suspension. After another year of deliberations, in which time Riasova won her three French Grand Prix medals, CAS upheld RUSADA’s appeal in September 2023. They therefore elected to ban Riasova for two years from 15 September 2023 to 14 March 2025 (taking into account the period of ineligibility already served).
In addition, Riasova has had her result from Valencia in 2021, where she finished 11th, disqualified.
As it happens, Valencia was the last time Riasova raced internationally. Earlier, that summer she won the European U23 title (plus a silver medal at the European Super Sprint Championships), finished 12th at WTCS Yokohama and won a silver medal at the European Cup in Balikesir.
Born in 1998, Riasova remains a young athlete and could return to elite triathlon once her ban is up in March 2025. Equally, questions will also have to be asked about the circumstances of her doping in 2021 and her actions since then.
In the meantime, though, her superlative French Grand Prix performances now shine a little less brightly.
