Even if the individual sport’s federation do allow Russian athletes to compete, they will be forced to undergo stringent analysis of their previous drugs tests before they can even be considered for Olympic particupation.
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They must never have been sanctioned for doping and must not be implicated in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren released Monday that details Russia’s state-sponsored doping program between 2011 and 2015 that affected the whole range of summer and winter sports.
IOC President Thomas Bach and the other 14 executive board members met on Sunday to further study the question of the participation of Russian athletes in the Rio 2016, which is set to officially open on August 5.
Russia’s Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, said he was grateful to the International Olympic Committee for not imposing a blanket ban on Russians.
Stepanova, now living in the United States, competed as an individual athlete at last month’s European Championships in Amsterdam.
“This was a chance for the International Olympic Committee to really make a stand and to really prove that, in the end, if your country is behind cheating and behind doping, that there are consequences”, said Le May Doan, who is also the senior director of community engagement for Sport Calgary.
“It’s an optimal decision for us in this situation”, Shamil Tarpishchev, IOC member and head of the Russian Tennis Federation told reporters.
“We the organisers will welcome all athletes who come here to compete”, Nuzman added. The IOC has decided against a complete ban on Russian athletes from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Russia’s team was expected to be among the top-five medal-winning nations, and the fallout from the International Olympic Committee decision practically ensures that doping will remain in the spotlight throughout the Games.
“It’s fine to speak about collective responsibility and banning everybody, but you have to be able to look into the eyes of the individual athlete concerned”, he said.
“I hope that the majority of global federations will very promptly confirm the right of [Russian] sportspeople in different types of sports to take part in the Olympic Games”, Mr Mutko said.
The I-O-C ruled that a ban across all sports would unjustly punish clean athletes in Russian Federation.
Radcliffe said: “While I applaud no athlete going to the Games who has previously served a doping suspension – this can not fairly be only Russian athletes”.
About 20 different summer Olympic sports were accused in the McLaren report.
WADA recommended that Russian Federation be banned from Rio.
All eight have “been subject to a rigorous anti-doping testing programme outside Russia”.
The long jumper, who holds all four major titles, slammed the governing body for failing to impose a blanket ban on Russian Federation after a wide-spread doping scandal.
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The IOC also reiterated its “serious concerns” about the weaknesses in the fight against doping, and called on WADA to “fully review their anti-doping systems”. The IOC said it would propose measures for more transparency and independence.
