Glenn Ikonen at 2009 Worlds - photo Yadranka
Glenn Ikonen, who began the Paralympics throwing third stones for Sweden before changing places with his skip Jalle Jungnell after Sweden's 0-3 start, has been banned for two years for failing a drug test. Though the ban is subject to appeal, he has been withdrawn for the remainder of the competition.As reported in the Vancouver Sun, the news came just hours before the Swedish team was due to take on Italy in a tie-break to decide who faces Canada in Saturday's semi-final.
Alternate Patrik Kallin threw second, with Jungnell returning to 4th stones. Despite the off-ice drama, Sweden beat Italy 6-5, stealing 2 in the final end. With Sweden sitting shot on the 4 foot and second shot back 12, Italy's skip Tabanell chose a takeout for the win rather than a draw to the 12 for a tie, and crashed on a front stone.
“Of course we were totally shocked and sorry for Glenn who played so well for us in the round robin,” said Jungnell “He felt he had done everything right about the medication. But Patrik [who shot 75 per cent] came in and did a good job for us. He plays for us in our normal club games back home. We knew he was a good player.”
Canada vs Sweden and USA vs Korea take place 10am Saturday, with the medal games beginning at 3.30pm
Lyndon Little has an interesting review of the day's events and a look forward to tomorrow HERE.
For tables and schedule see our Paralympics page.
2 comments:
Curious Eric. How does this affect the resto of team sweden. Are they then disqualified as well and are the games that Glenn played in considered void?
Here's the situation as stated in a media release by the IPC.
In accordance with the IPC Anti-Doping Code, a sanction on the whole team is only applicable in the case that more than one athlete is subject to an anti-doping rule violation. This one case therefore does not impact on the competition results from Sweden, nor on the tournament results.
Post a Comment