Ukrainian biathlete Alexandra Merkushina was forced to undergo doping control immediately after the pursuit race at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan. At the same time, our compatriot was faced with a problem that she called a “hopeless situation”.

Merkushina herself wrote about this on her page on the social network Threads. According to her, after an exhausting distance, as is very often the case with athletes, she was unable to easily pass the necessary tests. The athlete had to drink a lot of liquid, which later led to a funny story.

“About getting out of hopeless situations: After the race, I took the doping control, so I quickly pee, I drink three bottles of water in one gulp, because my mother is waiting at the stadium. I barely squeezed out those 90 milliliters.

After a 15-minute walk with my mother, I rushed to the toilet as if I were at the finish line.. Now I’m on the bus home, we’re stuck in a traffic jam, it’s at least 40 minutes to the hotel. And I really want to pee. What to do? I asked the driver to let me out, I ran into the bushes, it turns out I was not alone, two athletes also supported me, then together they caught up with the bus,” said Merkushina Jr..

Let us note that the pursuit race itself at the 2026 Olympics ended with the historic victory of Italian biathlete Lisa Vitozzi.