Instead of banning Russia from Rio for running a state-sanctioned doping operation, the International Olympic Committee members decided instead Sunday to allow individual sports federations to decide which Russians can compete.
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Whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova, meanwhile, has described the decision of the IOC to impose an Olympic ban on her as “unfair”.
Russian swimmers Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Natalia Lovtcova and Anastasia Krapivina were also withdrawn. Efimova’s agent, Andrei Mitkov, told Russia’s Sportbox website that she meant to file an appeal if she was not allowed to compete.
The International Judo Federation, whose honorary president is Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, said it has already tested 84 percent of the 389 athletes from 136 countries who are qualified to compete in Rio.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), recommended Stepanova be allowed to participate in the Olympics.
The team could be without some of its star names in Rio because of the International Olympic Committee measure barring any Russians who have previously served doping bans.
The Budapest-based IWF said “some points might lead to confusion” regarding the International Olympic Committee ruling giving individual sports federations the responsibility of deciding who can compete in Rio.
WADA called for the ban after confirming that the Russian government worked to cover up doping among its athletes.
Sunday’s measures are still a blow to Russian Federation, which finished third in total medals at the 2012 Olympics.
Defenders of Russia’s Olympians, as well as those concerned about principles of due process, will say that this has collectivized the steroid stigma and put the burden of proof on individual athletes.
Another athlete set to compete in Brazil, oarsman Andrew Triggs Hodge, wrote in The Times he would find it hard to believe that he would be competing against clean athletes in Rio.
Also, individual sport federations around the world will have the right to ban an athlete from competition if that athlete has failed a drug test. It made no mention of the 11 Russian judo athletes entered. Instead, the IOC left it to 27 worldwide sports federations to make the call on a case-by-case basis. Their minister of sport, Vitaly Mutko, and the entire Russian Ministry of Sports have been barred from setting foot in Rio.
The IOC decision was sharply criticized by anti-doping bodies as a sellout that undermines clean athletes and destroys the idea of a level playing field.
Those deemed ineligible for Rio include Yulia Efimova, a 200m bronze medallist in London, who had a provisional ban lifted by Fina last week.
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That came after WADA president Craig Reedie said: “The McLaren report exposed, beyond a reasonable doubt, a state-run doping programme in Russian Federation that seriously undermines the principles of clean sport embodied within the World Anti-Doping Code”.
