Russia’s track and field team will not be participating in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, continuing an international suspension that has lasted the past seven months, according to an article in the New York Times.
IAAF announces Russia’s track and field team barred from 2016 Olympic Games
The global governing body for track and field has made the decision to keep Russia’s track and field athletes from competing in the Rio Games due to a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
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The suspension is due to a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency that indicated Russia has a far-reaching, government-run doping program. Officials in the country have denied the report, but the suspension over the past half-year was not contested, either.
The suspension for the Olympic Games was announced Friday by the IAAF, the global governing body for track and field. The suspension will be discussed by the International Olympic Committee on June 21, and, ultimately, they have the final say over the suspension. Amending the ruling would be an “unusual move” by the Olympic Committee, “as they have historically deferred to the governing bodies for specific sports,” according to the New York Times article.
The 325-page WADA report noted “corruption and bribery practices at the highest levels of international athletics.” WADA investigators found evidence of the destruction of more than 1,400 Russian doping control samples, and uncovered evidence of a shadow laboratory used to doctor athletes’ blood test results.
The doping conspiracy the World Anti-Doping Agency reported on -- which was chock full of wild details -- was orchestrated with athletes who competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. According to that report, which centers around interviews with the man, Grigory Rodchenkov, who ran the lab where Russian athletes were tested, at least 15 medal-winning Russian athletes were involved in a government-backed effort to ensure their steroid use would go undetected.
The New York Times reports that Russia has volunteered to only send athletes to the Olympic Games who have not been disciplined for drug use previously. But that, the article states, is just as worrisome to officials.
To allow athletes without a history of drug violations to compete --€” as the I.O.C. may discuss on Tuesday --€” could prove controversial. The sophistication of Russia’s operation, whistle-blowers have alleged, has made athletes on steroids appear to be clean, be it through surreptitiously swapping out incriminating urine samples or imbibing drugs with liquor to minimize the period during which they can be detected.
However, it is still possible for the Olympic Committee to allow certain athletes who have not been tied to doping to compete in the Rio Games this summer.
The International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, indicated recently that there is “the difficult decision between collective responsibility and individual justice” when considering the entire team being barred from the Olympics.
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