Last week, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) chose to exclude Russian track and field athletes from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
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In 2016 Kenya has failed twice to meet the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) requests for legislative reform, prompting concerns from local sporting bodies the country could be declared “non-compliant” and their athletes banned from worldwide competition.
Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus may face Ban in Rio games by IWF: The weightlifting units from Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus being forbidden from the Rio Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has insisted that clean Russian athletes, who can prove their innocence of doping, will compete at the Olympics under their own flag.
The federations were named as Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Despite Russia vowing to clean up its act, WADA recently claimed that hundreds of attempts to conduct drug tests on athletes this year have been prevented by armed security forces.
The IAAF are keen for neutral participation primarily in order to find a way for Yulia Stepanova to compete.
Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov has already said she not be selected to compete under the Russian flag after she has been accused there of making slanderous and traitorous allegations.
But evidence shows that doping has become pervasive throughout the entire Russian athletic system, bringing up memories of the worst excesses of how East German Olympiads would abuse steroids.
The executive board also castigated the European Weightlifting Federation for its recent appointment of Sergey Systsov, president of the Russian Federation, as chair of its anti-doping commission. The IOC President Thomas Bach has confirmed it. Vladimir Putin has constantly portrayed himself as a macho strongman who will revitalize Russian Federation, and emphasizing Russia’s competitiveness in the Olympics has been a key part of his strategy.
The full McLaren report is due to be delivered to Reedie by July 15 and made public within five days after that. If it uncovers further widespread, state-backed cheating in Russian Federation, it could push for further action against Russian Federation.
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Kenya – home to numerous world’s top distance runners – has been hit by dozens of positive drug cases in recent years and has struggled to set up a credible anti-doping system. These athletes will be removed from disqualifications individually by the IAAF.
