Six weeks out from the Rio Olympics, confusion reigns about how Russian track-and-field athletes can qualify, and whether they can compete under their country’s flag.
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Last week, the track and field governing body ruled that the disqualification of the Russian Federation won’t be lifted, but saying the clean athletes would be able to compete in Rio under a neutral, white flag.
She again blasted the IAAF ruling to ban the entire Russian track and field team – not discriminating between those caught using doping and clean athletes – from competing as “outright discrimination”. “But our athletes are innocent and we will be presenting a clean squad to Rio and they deserve to compete in the Olympics”, said Keino.
However, the IAAF said on Tuesday that it would “now work with the International Olympic Committee to ensure the decision is respected and implemented in full”. “I was desperate yesterday, but I’m very optimistic today”.
The World Anti-Doping Agency is now investigating allegations that Russian Federation conducted state-sponsored doping of its Winter Olympic athletes. The IOC is not the target of the appeals, which aim to allow Russian athletes with no doping record to compete in the games. Even without those changes, the IOC seems committed to keeping Russians out of the games.
“This is the good right of everybody”, he said.
Those criticisms were echoed in Russian Olympic committee’s president Aleksander Zhukov’s address to IOC executives in Lausanne.
Last week, the IAAF banned Russian athletes from Rio because of evidence of a systematic doping effort.
At the same time, the global sports officials also opened the door to some Russian track and field athletes competing under their own flag – not as neutral athletes – in Rio.
The Engenhao stadium, a 2016 Summer Olympics venue, is seen in this aerial photograph taken above the Engenho de Dentro area of Rio de Janeir, June 17, 2016.
The IOC President said the meeting had not discussed the potential participation of whistleblower Yulia Stepanova, a former drugs cheat whos revelations sparked the scandal, after the IAAF gave her hope of competing at the Games.
Isinbayeva – who had endorsed IAAF president Sebastian Coe when he ran for the post previous year – took a jab on Monday at the IAAF, calling the members of its council “pricks” on camera before she smirked and walked away.
“It is up to us Kenyans to prove that we are doing enough to eradicate doping among our athletes”.
The doping crisis extends beyond Russia’s track and field athletes and beyond Russian Federation itself.
“I think that the majority of them will appeal to the worldwide court for sports and that they don’t have a bad chance of winning their case”.
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Amid the rumors that Russia could be banned from the Olympics, the Russian Ministry for Sport called out the IAAF for doing “everything to destroy” athletics in their country.
