Former figure skating world champion Carolina Kostner risks punishment for skipping a hearing before Italian authorities investigating whether she was complicit in doping by her former boyfriend and Olympic race walking gold medallist Alex Schwazer.
Kostner, the 2014 Olympic bronze medallist and 2012 world champion, was to be asked by the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor on Friday about allegations she told judicial officials in Bolzano that she helped Schwazer evade a test and knew he slept with a banned altitude machine.
The CONI hearing was moved up a few hours on a request from Kostner, who is retired from competition, so she could prepare for the Opera on Ice show in Verona this weekend.
CONI said in a statement that Kostner's lawyer sent an email early Friday saying she would not show up, and that one more final hearing would be scheduled.
Schwazer, who won the 50-kilometre walk at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was excluded from the 2012 London Olympics after testing positive for EPO before the games.
Prosecutors believe coaches and doctors knew that Schwazer was doping long before he tested positive, possibly dating to Beijing. He was banned by CONI for three and a half years in April 2013.
The 27-year-old Kostner risks a ban of up to four years from all sports activities in Italy and abroad for aiding and failing to report Schwazer's doping. She also risks punishment for failing to cooperate with CONI. A ban would also prevent her from appearing in non-competitive events or shows worldwide that are supported by the International Skating Union, CONI said.
Kostner has also won two silvers and three bronzes at the worlds, and is a five-time European champion. It remains unclear if she could be banned retroactively and be stripped of medals.
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