The IOC’s ruling also reportedly prohibited any Russian athletes ever sanctioned for using PEDs from competing in the upcoming contests.
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The IOC had said that disciplinary proceedings would be opened against Russian officials cited in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) McLaren report on Monday.
Recently Russian track-and-field athletes were banned by its governing body, the IAAF, after that organization got out ahead of the news cycle.
“In this way we are protecting the clean athletes because of the high criteria we set”.
Mr Bach, a former Olympic fencing champion, said that Russian sportsmen and women “will have to clear the highest hurdle to take part in the Olympics”.
Clearly, this decision had every bit as much to do with politics as clean sports.
“Many, including clean athletes and whistleblowers, have demonstrated courage and strength in confronting a culture of state-supported doping and corruption within Russia”, Usada chief Travis Tygart said. “On the other hand, it is a message of encouragement for the clean Russian athletes, that they have the chance to show they are clean and to participate in the Olympic games”.
“Of course, the decision of the Executive Committee of the IOC is hard for us, while the Olympic Games 2016 are set to start so soon….”
World Anti Doping Agency (Wada) president Sir Craig Reedie said previously his organisation, which commissioned the McLaren report, wanted the IOC to “decline entries for Rio 2016 of all athletes” submitted by the Russian Olympic and Paralympic committees.
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko expects the majority of his country’s athletes to compete in Rio after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) opted not to impose a blanket ban following a doping scandal. Bach said the International Olympic Committee considered the timing of Stepanova’s information dump – after she’d been cast aside by the Russian team – along with her record of doping.
That decision means that it is very likely that at least some of Russia’s 387 athletes from its national Olympic team will compete in Rio, though there remain steep practical challenges to their passing individual evaluations, with the games just two week away.
It also ordered the immediate re-testing of all Russian athletes from the Sochi Olympics. Zhukov said he didn’t agree with the latest International Olympic Committee ruling but that Russian Federation would not appeal it.
“At the end of the day you have to be able to look into the eyes of the individual athlete concerned by your decision”, Bach said.
Bach says “an athlete should not suffer and should not be sanctioned for a system in which he was not implicated”.
The IOC thanked Stepanova for her help but stated that her case did “not satisfy the ethical requirements for an athlete to enter the Olympic Games”. Zhukov told Russian state TV that Russian officials had to start Sunday preparing their athletes’ applications.
Russian Federation is waiting to find out whether its entire team will be excluded from next month’s Olympics over the country’s doping scandal.
Russian competitors were expected to be barred from attending next month’s Games after revelations of a state-sponsored performance-enhancing drug program, which has tainted the results of athletes from the country in numerous sports during recent years.
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Russian Federation faces a possible ban from the Paralympic Games.
