“It has been a long and testing journey to get to this point”, Bach told delegates as he opened an International Olympic Committee session in Rio.
Advertisement
As a result, only one Russian track and field athlete has been cleared to compete while dozens of other Russians from different sports are banned from the Rio Games due to doping sanctions they have received in the past.
President Bach said, “The Olympic Village shows us that a world of peace and solidarity is possible”.
But the IOC allowed Russian athletes with spotless doping records and sufficient global drugs tests to compete, saying it would be unfair to punish clean athletes along with cheats.
During his speech, Mr Bach said that the Olympic Village is the heart of the Games and is a place where people of all races and creeds live side-by-side in harmony.
“It was only when CBS 60 Minutes and the New York Times, on 8 and 12 May 2016 respectively, published the allegations from the former director of the Moscow and Sochi laboratories, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, that Wada had concrete evidence suggesting Russian state involvement that could be investigated by initiating the McLaren investigation, which we did immediately”, Reedie said. “These principles are now being implemented”, he added.
“If proven true, such a contemptuous system of doping is an unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games”, Bach said.
He expressed support for South America’s first Olympics, whose build-up has been overshadowed by Brazil’s political and economic crises and concerns over Zika, water pollution, crime and budget cuts.
The Coração Jolie Children’s Choir, made up of 26 young refugees who now live in Brazil, took part in the event. The political and economic crisis in the country is unprecedented.
Advertisement
Four members of the Australian women’s water polo team have been placed into quarantine in Rio after being struck down with a virus just days out from the opening ceremony.
