There are over 300 Russian athletes outside of track and field that have qualified for the Rio games this year, though the odds of them being disqualified by individual sports federations seems like a long shot because, as we said, the games are just 12 days away.
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Wada and 14 national anti-doping organisations had urged the IOC to impose a blanket ban in the wake of the damning McLaren report, but former Olympic fencing champion Bach said that Russian sportsmen and women “will have to clear the highest hurdle to take part in the Olympics”.
However, individual Russian athletes had hoped they might be allowed to compete under a neutral flag if they can prove they are clean.
“If you do have Russian athletes competing in other sports, the focus of the media are going to be on the Russian athletes in Rio and not the athletes who have proven to be clean and above board”.
After the IOC’s decision not to issue a blanket ban on Russia competing at the Rio Olympics, they have passed the baton to the individual federations to make the call on Russia’s participation.
Why have Russia’s athletics team been banned from the Olympics? “The EOC stands ready to provide the ROC with every assistance in this regard, with EOC members already at the forefront of the fight for clean sport”.
Before Bach announced IOC’s decision, Russian Federation was on the verge of becoming the first country to be excluded from Olympic Games since 1988, when South Africa’s IOC suspension over apartheid was in force. “I have offered the help of the IAAF team to ASOIF and we continue to stand by to assist and offer advice to any global sports federations”, the IAAF President Sebastian Coe said.
Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency is disappointed that Olympics leaders have rejected their plea to ban Russian Federation completely. She will instead be invited to Rio as a “guest”.
There we have set the bar to the absolute limit for how Russian athletes can achieve to compete in Rio. It is, however, the only nation we know of where ministers, administrators, secret service agents, athletes and coaches have conspired to defraud worldwide sport on a scale that makes the East German model of the 1970s look miniscule.
Apparently you can’t, since the International Olympic Committee – for all its bluster about operating drug-free Olympics – seems more anxious about offending Russian Federation than protecting clean athletes.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), whose president John Coates is also an IOC vice-president, backed the IOC decision in a statement out of Rio on Sunday. “We did not want to penalize athletes who are clean with a collective ban and, therefore, keeping them out of the Games”.
Several Russian TV networks are joined by news crews for broadcasters from around the globe awaiting the International Olympic Committee decision.
“The 67 athletes banned by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) are not competing in Rio”.
Chiller said she had raised concerns with local event organizers and the International Olympic Committee, and was “pushing hard for a solution”. This suspension was in response to a separate WADA report on doping in 2015.
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Short of a complete ban, the International Olympic Committee could let individual sports federations decide whether to allow Russian athletes in their events.
