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4 February 2026
The ITA, on behalf of IRONMAN, confirms that athlete Daniil Sapunov has agreed¹ to the consequences imposed for a breach of the prohibition against participation when serving a period of ineligibility.
In 2020, the athlete was sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility from 8 October 2019 until 7 October 2023 for committing an anti-doping rule violation. During this period of ineligibility, the athlete participated in a sporting event, and IRONMAN initiated a procedure against him.
The athlete initially contested having breached the anti-doping rules and requested that the matter be referred to the International Hearing Panel. During the proceedings before the panel, the athlete agreed to the consequences proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved through an acceptance of consequences.
The athlete’s new period of ineligibility runs from 8 October 2023 until 7 April 2027. In addition, all individual competitive results obtained between 8 October 2019 and 7 April 2027 are disqualified, with forfeiture of medals, points, and prizes.
The decision may be appealed to the appeals division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport by the parties with a right of appeal in accordance with Article 13.2.3 of the IRONMAN anti-doping rules.
The ITA will not comment further on this case.
¹ Athletes have the right to choose not to have their case referred to a hearing panel. In these instances, the anti-doping organisation will assess the athlete’s case file and establish the applicable consequences pursuant to the anti-doping rules and the athlete will have the right to accept the proposed consequences. If the athlete refuses the proposed consequences, the case is transferred to a hearing panel. This resolution mechanism is provided for in articles 8.3.1 and 8.3.3 of the IRONMAN anti-doping rules and 8.3 of the World Anti-Doping Code and is commonly referred to as an agreement on consequences and is deemed an IRONMAN/ITA decision. The athlete’s National Anti-Doping Organisation and the World Anti-Doping Agency have the right to appeal the agreement on consequences before the competent appeal body.
