The International Olympic Committee declined to ban Russian Federation from the Rio Games.
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Exhausted of PED abuse clouding the waters of her sport, King chose to make waves.
She was one of seven Russian swimmers initially banned from the Rio Olympics following the International Olympic Committee’s move to exclude any Russian athlete with a prior doping conviction. Efimova’s second dirty test came in May but was successfully appealed.
She showed that clean athletes who are willing to train hard can still finish on top.
“You’re shaking your finger No. 1, and you’ve been caught for drug cheating. I was standing on the podium and of course I wanted the gold like any ordinary athlete, especially at the Olympics”, she said.
Asked about the King-Efimova firestorm, Kaneto told reporters: “It’s a free country, I don’t care what people say”.
“I tried to do all that I could, but I missed out by just a little bit”.
King’s cri de coeur, amplified by the world’s largest sporting stage, reflects a cultural change that has opened the door for such frank discussion.
But prominent figures in the doping debate say the spat is also due to failures on the part of global authorities.
Relations between the sporting superpowers have been tense since U.S. calls for the entire Russian team to be banned from Rio following allegations of government-backed doping.
Doping has been a major problem in the Olympics and throughout professional sports.
But the American, Australian and French swimmers (and other Olympic athletes) bring up a good point.
King didn’t just call Efimova out, she stared her down before the two took to the blocks for their race.
Efimova was given a provisional ban after testing positive for meldonium earlier this year, but swimming’s governing body FINA overturned the decision on advice from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Phelps also received a six-month suspension in 2014 after pleading guilty to drink driving. If the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, had followed the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency and banned all Russian athletes from the games, the shadow of tainted athletes – created by overwhelming evidence of state-sponsored doping – would have been removed. If an athlete is found to be doping they should have an immediate lifetime ban from the Olympics. “It would have really been the end of a fairytale, a awful dream, if I’d won gold”. “There was a lot of pressure obviously, just going in there”. She has been allowed to participate in Rio, despite prior drug testing issues.
Phelps, who won his 22nd gold medal and 26th Olympic medal on Thursday night, has never tested positive for any kind of performance-enhancing drug in or out of competition.
For the Rio games, the IOC came under widespread pressure to impose a blanket ban on Russia, but declined, instead leaving it up to global sports federations to decide whether each athlete met certain criteria.
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Efimova, who heard a round of boos and a few cheers during the introductions, settled for the silver in 1:05.50. NBC cameras caught the IU sophomore wagging her finger at a TV showing Efimova raising her index finger to signal her win in the breaststroke semifinal.
