Doping at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics: first case involves an Italian athlete. AND Rebecca Passlera 24-year-old biathlete originally from Anterselva, who tested positive in an anti-doping test carried out outside of competitions. The Italian athlete was found positive for letrozoloa third-generation aromatase inhibitor, a drug used primarily in the treatment of breast cancer hormone-dependent in post-menopausal women.
First case at the Games
The start of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games therefore proves complicated for Italy, hit by a doping case involving a leading national biathlon athlete.
Rebecca Passler in fact belongs to a historic family of this sport: she is the granddaughter of Johan Passler, winner of two bronze medals at the 1988 Calgary Olympics – the first Italian athlete to stand on the Olympic podium in biathlon – and four medals at the World Championships, including two golds in the relay. Rebecca, like Dorothea Wierer, also comes from the Anterselva valley, a point of reference for Italian biathlon.
Who is Rebecca Passler
Rebecca Passler, 25 years old, is the third best Italian biathlon athlete this season and is 33rd in the overall World Cup ranking. Born in Brunico but originally from Rasun Anterselva, she stood out at youth and junior level with 7 world medals, including gold in the relay in 2022. She made her debut in the World Cup in 2021, winning her first podium a year later in the relay. For the granddaughter of Johann Passler, Italian biathlon legend, she was achieving the best results of her career this season: in addition to a new consistency of performance, in the competition weekend at Le Grand-Bornand in December, she had finished first 13th and then 11th.
