Drugfree Sport New Zealand says it’s disappointed by the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s endorsement of the IOC and its decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian Federation at the Rio Olympics.
Advertisement
The IOC rejected calls from the World Anti-Doping Agency and many other anti-doping bodies to exclude the entire Russian Olympic team following allegations of state-sponsored cheating.
The country’s Olympic minister, Alexander Zhukov, said that the IOC had come to “a well-considered decision which allows our athletes to compete in the Olympics under the Russian flag” despite pressure against them from the western media.
“I also feel a little surprised that more athletes are not more vocal about this, especially those with a powerful voice in Olympic sport”, he said. Stepanova had previously hoped to compete in the games under a neutral flag.
Russians have poured scorn on the idea of American athletes with histories of drug suspensions, such as Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, being allowed to compete while Russians with similar pasts are barred.
“Today the International Olympic Committee showed a balanced approach”, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said on Sky News.
A damning World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) report released last week alleged a complex system of subterfuge that involved Russia’s security services tampering with and altering sealed urine samples.
Bach said the International Olympic Committee was “expressing its gratitude” to Stepanova by inviting her and her husband to Rio as guests.
Rutherford also urged other high-profile athletes to follow suit and voice their opinion over the IOC’s decision. “We know the pros and cons of a blanket ban, we know the risks of “collective justice”, but we also know the risk of not punishing a culture of doping that comes from the very top”. There we have set the bar to the absolute limit for how Russian athletes can achieve to compete in Rio.
“Under these exceptional circumstances, Russian athletes in any of the 28 Olympic summer sports have to assume the consequences of what amounts to a collective responsibility in order to protect the credibility of the Olympic competitions, and the “presumption of innocence” can not be applied to them”.
The IOC says the federations have the authority, under their own rules, to exclude Russian teams as a whole from their sports.
Around 25 media are gathered at the front door of the IOC’s temporary premises in Lausanne, about 400 meters from the Olympic Museum. It will consider a ban on Russian athletes from the Rio de Janeiro Games that open in 12 days’ time.
Reporters from Brazilian, Chinese and Japanese broadcasters are among the group. It has already started suspension proceedings against Russian Federation following the McLaren report.
Earlier interim International Olympic Committee measures announced Tuesday included urging winter sports federations to move their competitions out of Russia this season, in response to allegations that Russian state officials hid hundreds of failed drug tests over several years and swapped samples from doped athletes for clean ones during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The FSB is Russia’s federal security service, while the CSP is involved in the training of Russian athletes.
The Anti-Doping Agency in the UNited States says the IOC’s decision shows a lack of leadership.
But it will now be down to individual sports associations to decide if their Russian members can go to the Games.
Russia’s track and field athletes have already been banned by the IAAF, the sport’s governing body, a decision that was upheld Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Advertisement
Rutherford, who will defend his Olympic title at the Games, which begin on August 5, believes the IOC has tried to satisfy everyone but ended up creating a “messy” situation.
