Crosscountry-Russian Nepryaeva disqualified for taking wrong skis

(corrects to Hennig in paragraphs 2 and 4)

By Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton

TESERO, Italy, Feb 22 : Russia's Dariya Nepryaeva was disqualified from the women's 50km classic cross-country race on Sunday after accidentally taking another competitor's skis during a mid-race equipment change. 

Nepryaeva, competing as a neutral athlete, took the skis of Germany's Katharina Hennig Dotzler by mistake.

She continued skiing but was disqualified from the race, which Sweden's Ebba Andersson won handily. 

Hennig Dotzler, who finished ninth, said the back-up skis she had to use were slower than those she would have raced on but the bigger issue was a piece of plastic attached to the bottom that she had to remove during a feeding stop. 

"It was not the fastest one. This morning we tested four pairs of skis, and that was maybe the third or fourth. It’s a difference, but such things happen in sport," she said.

The 23-year-old Nepryaeva apologised for the incident and returned the skis.

The International Olympic Committee banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Olympics following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Some Russians and Belarusians were allowed to compete in Milano Cortina as individual neutral athletes, without a national flag or anthem.