Shortly before the start of the Olympics Italian biathlete Passler tests positive for doping
Four days before the start of the Winter Olympics, there is a case of doping. The Italian involved comes from Antholz, the venue for the biathlon races.
02.02.2026, 15:57
02.02.2026, 16:00
dpa
The Italian biathlon team is shaken by a doping case just before the start of the Winter Olympics in their own country. Rebecca Passler from Antholz, where the Olympic races of the ski hunters will take place from next Sunday, tested positive in an out-of-competition test. According to Italy's anti-doping authority, traces of Letrozole were found in her body.
The drug can be used to lower oestrogen levels, but is mainly used to treat cancer. Passler has been provisionally suspended as a result of the violation, but there was initially no reaction from her.
The 24-year-old Passler has been competing in the World Cup since the end of 2021. In January, she was the starting skater of the Italian women's relay team at the competitions in Oberhof, Thuringia, which only finished tenth in the absence of stars Lisa Vittozzi and Dorothea Wierer. Her best career results are two eleventh places in the sprint in Oberhof and the mass start in Annecy.
Passler only on the World Cup podium in the relay
The former junior world champion has not yet made it into the top ten with the relay in an individual race. She finished third twice with the Italian women's relay team in the winter of 2022/2023 alongside Wierer and Vittozzi.
Passler is the niece of former Italian biathlete Johann Passler, who won two Olympic bronze medals in Calgary in 1988. According to the Italian media, Johann Passler will also be working as a logistics assistant in the Antholz stadium at the Winter Games starting on Friday.
There has already been one case of doping with Letrozole in Italy in the past. The drug was also detected in former French Open finalist Sara Errani in 2017. The substance has not been permitted in competitive sport since 2008 and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (Wada) list of banned substances. At the time, tennis player Errani denied having taken the substance and suspected food contamination.
