Authorities are sharing information with foreign governments, and an worldwide counterterrorism center was set, the first of its kind at an Olympics Games, to try to thwart any potential threat. Global sports federations must now remove any athlete previously banned for doping or who was implicated in a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency that accused Russia of a mass cover-up of failed drug tests.
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Rodchenkov’s statement followed allegations from another former employee of the Russia Anti-Doping agency, Vitaliy Stepanova, who claimed in a German documentary that the Russian Olympic federation supplied banned substances to athletes in exchange for 5% of their earnings.
In his native Germany, IOC President Thomas Bach is facing increasing criticism for failing to impose a complete ban on Russia’s team.
A depleted Russian team departed for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, missing dozens of athletes who were excluded amid the country’s doping scandal.
“It’s a reflection of the org’s aims to better market the Olympics, especially to younger consumers, in the two-year intervals between the summer and winter games”, Variety reports.
Following the launch in August, the channel will seek to secure partnerships with rights-holding broadcasters and national Olympic committees to develop localised versions of the channel, the IOC said.
The hurdler Sergey Shubenkov told the state television channel Rossiya 24: “If you meet unfair competition, you should do everything so that this unequal fight will go in your favour … you should be so strong that no one can catch you”.
Athletics: The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the total ban of the Russian track and field team from the Rio Games last week.
Russian president Vladimir Putin met with the delegation of athletes at the Kremlin on Wednesday, though it was not clear whether the group included some who had been disqualified.
Maintaining its ban, the IAAF said the applications by 68 Russian athletes for eligibility to compete in Rio were assessed carefully and individually by its Doping Review Board. One of the most recognizable Russian tennis players Maria Sharapova will not compete at Rio due to her current ban for the use of meldonium.
“They have all been tested outside of Russian Federation”, the ITU said in a statement.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko wrote to the IAAF on Monday to get the ban overturned.
Sixteen Russian fencers have qualified for the Rio Games and there are four reserves.
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“Tomorrow it will be finally clear whether I have a chance to perform in Rio or not”. Speaking at a farewell event for Russia’s Rio-bound Olympians in Moscow, the Russian President said the absence of athletes from the world’s largest country would also diminish the competition.
