They were barred from the games by swimming’s world governing body, FINA, in line with the new criteria for Russian athletes announced by the International Olympic Committee. Names of the three implicated by the World Anti-Doping Agency McLaren Report have not been disclosed but the UCI said they were working with WADA to move their cases forward “immediately”. He is one of seven swimmers who have been banned from Rio.
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Russian athletes arrive in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games on Friday.
The motion will be in effect until December 31, 2016 and may be reviewed at a December session of the IOC Executive Board.
Also Saturday, the IOC board granted full recognition to the International Ski Mountaineering Federation.
World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) president Craig Reedie, who is also an International Olympic Committee vice-president, had led calls for a blanket ban on Russian Federation over the doping. Here’s all you need to know about what a cop-out the IOC has committed: Moscow’s minister of sport reacted positively to the ruling, proclaiming that most Russian athletes will indeed qualify to participate – and march into Rio under the Russian flag. He spoke to the press about the Australian Olympic Committee and joked, “We want them to feel at home here, I nearly feel like putting a kangaroo to jump up and down in front of their building”. Athletes will have to overcome a presumption of guilt, but given the limited time left before the Games, and the influence Moscow can bring to bear, overtly and otherwise, on the various federations, this is a dragnet through which many Russians will slip. “We will use tests that are validated by WADA and for which the reference material is available”, Budgett said. Russia’s entire weightlifting team was kicked out Friday.
“The disturbing pattern of use associated with this performance-enhancing drug appears to be one more example of growing practice in sport in which coaches ask for, physicians prescribe, and athletes use pharmaceuticals not for their primary objective of health and wellness but to enhance athletic performance”, said Usada chief executive Travis Tygart in a statement.
The IOC can re-test doping samples up to 10 years after an Olympics, enabling it to catch drug cheats who evaded detection at the time when new testing methods become available.
“Based on the latest guidance offered by Wada on June 30, 2016, for cases involving meldonium, Lobintsev will not face a period of ineligibility or loss of results”, the statement said.
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“I think the general feeling is that it is appreciated that, on the one hand, we are sanctioning a (doping) system, but on the other hand we have given athletes who were not part of the system the opportunity to demonstrate this and then to be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games”.
