Moscow, Russia – The Russian Ski Association (RSA) has issued a two-year ban to skier Nikolay Pankratov after he was found carrying blood doping equipment last September.n”Nikolay Pankratov was found to have committed a violation of the anti-doping code by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and was banned for two years,” the RSA announced this week on its website.

Pankratov competed for Russia in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and won a silver medal in the in the 4x10km relay at the 2007 World Championships. When customs officials stopped Pankratov last September along the Austrian/Swiss border, he was found with 22 vials of the blood agent Actovegin and injecting equipment in his luggage.