Russian Federation will compete in the majority of sports at the 2016 Olympics, with at least 271 of its athletes cleared to take part, the country’s Olympic chief Alexander Zhukov told reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.
Advertisement
“I think the team will include from 270 to 280 athletes”, he told journlaists on Wednesday, reports Tass.
They suggested the agency should have acted sooner against evidence of state-backed doping, and that the timing of McLaren’s report had caused chaos so close to the Rio Games. But a report for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) blamed the Russian sports ministry and secret service of running the doping programme and set off the biggest doping scandal in Olympic history.
Thomas Bach has defended the International Olympic Committees handling of the Russian doping crisis ahead of the Rio 2016 Games. The IOC set up a panel of three executive board members to make the final call, taking into account the advice of an independent sports arbitrator.
These include golfer Maria Verchenova, all 11 Russian judo athletes, 31 swimmers (including two who had previously been told they would be banned), all five equestrian athletes, all 30 Russian volleyballers, and all 11 Russian boxers being cleared to compete.
The limitations of WADA’s arsenal of sanctions were highlighted by long-standing International Olympic Committee member Princess Anne, who questioned the limitations for punishment of state-organised cheating.
“It’s going to be a attractive ceremony, very Brazilian, very Olympics, and very sportsmanlike”, Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told a press conference.
Though Thursday’s decision was preceded by extensive debate – along with public appeals and court challenges – it was not certain to be the final word, even with the games beginning Friday.
“I’m honoured to be chosen, proud to represent the U.S., and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for”, said Phelps, who will be swimming in his fifth Olympics.
The new statement “indicated that an athlete should not be considered as “implicated” if the McLaren list does not refer to a prohibited substance which would have given rise to an anti-doping rules violation”, the sailing federation said.
Over 250 athlees have been declared eligibile by the federations and some Russian athletes have filed appeals against their bans.
A Russian appeal against its ban from the Rio 2016 weightlifting competiton has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Bach insisted that athletes can not be punished for the wrongdoing of their government.
That led to McLaren’s investigation, which corroborated Rodchenkov’s claims that dirty samples of Russian athletes were replaced with clean ones during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
“Leaving aside that such a comparison is completely out of any proportion when it comes to the rules of sport, let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a “nuclear option, ‘” Bach said”.
Instead, Olympic officials reversed the basic principle of presuming athletes innocent until proven guilty. “This is why the International Olympic Committee executive board granted this right to the Russian athletes”.
Furthermore, the contents of Mr McLaren’s report were appalling. “The hard question we had to answer”, Bach said Thursday, “was: Can you hold an individual responsible for the wrongdoing of his or her country?”
Advertisement
The report from WADA’s commission stated in particular that the investigation registered a total of 643 cases of “Disappearing Positive Test Results” in Russian Federation between 2012 and 2015 involving athletes from 30 sports.
