Zwift bans two cyclists for manipulated data

On Feb. 2, two riders, Antonina Reznikov and Selma Trommer, were banned from Zwift racing for alleged data manipulation. The cyclists will are barred from any official Zwift e-sports events for six months following a decision by the Zwift Performance Verification Board.

Six month bans

The Zwift Performance Verification Board found anomalies in the power numbers of both cyclists. According to the board’s report, on Jan. 11, Antonina Reznikov competed in the Zwift Racing League (Season 2) Women’s Race 1 event and finished fourth. Zwift’s automated systems identified that “the dual-recorded data from the rider’s powermeter may have been edited and warranted more detailed investigation.”

The Verification Board found that Reznikov’s submitted data was 32 per cent higher than the originally recorded values. When Zwift reached out to her, she initially denied editing her power file, then “acknowledged that they had indeed changed their power data before submitting it to Zwift.” The Board decided that it “is beyond reasonable doubt that the rider intentionally manipulated their data” and applied a Tier 3 sanction (“Bringing the sport into disrepute – Fabrication or modification of any data”) which means she’ll receive a six month suspension from the platform’s racing events.

Zwift also announced the suspension of  Germany’s Selma Trommer after it was found that “the rider’s data identified that the power values submitted were 9 per cent higher than the originally recorded values.” She will also face a six month suspension.

Data confusion

Reznikov, who lives in Eilat, Israel, has been a powerhouse at the full-distance triathlon event in the city since winning for the first time in 2016 and subsequently in the the 2018, 2019 and 2020 events. In addition to her Israman wins, Reznikov, 38, won a bronze medal at the 2018 Zofingen Long Distance Duathlon World Championships. She was third at Israel’s national cycling championships.

“I am shocked by what happened,” she said in a statement to Triathlon Magazine. “I competed in Zwift in pro races for four months, I rode races much stronger and successfully passed all ZADA [ Zwift Accuracy and Data Analysis] checks. I also passed all ZADA checks to get the right to participate in pro races.”

“I was disqualified in a race where I rode with a power of 4.2 watts/kg, although there are many races where I rode more than 5 watts/kg and successfully passed all ZADA checks.”

Reznikov says that the issue arose after she deleted a long warm up from one of her data files, which left only part of the race. “The file left the average NP power the same as with the warm-up and therefore ZADA decided that I was manipulating the power data.” Reznikov says that after trimming the file the data no longer matched and, unfortunately, the file could not be restored.

She says that if she had added 32 per cent to her power file her average heart rate would be “significantly lower that about 130,” but that the Zwift Performance Verification Board was “no longer interested in it.”

“I didn’t even argue and didn’t prove anything because I was sure that everything was fine and trimming the warm-up part file is not something that could ruin everything,” Reznikov continues. “I’m very sorry that it happened, I can only hope that those who know me, they know what for me a race of 4.2 watts/kg is not a problem and I can ride much stronger. It is very sad and painful that such a technical nonsense can denigrate an athlete. Regardless of what happened, I believe that every person has the right to personal space and not everyone has the right to report in the media everything that he heard somewhere. They just killed me and everything I did in my sports life, they hurt me with my family and everyone who believes in me as an athlete.”

Trommer also denied editing her file. Her team manager says that she had problems uploading the file via Garmin Connect so she used another application to import and export the files before sending them to Zwift.

Though the Verification Board says it considered the possibility that the files were edited accidentally, it decided this was not the case as the power had been increased by a fixed percentage.

A version of this article originally appeared in Triathlon Magazine