Share

USADA CEO: Report could justify Russia’s exclusion from Rio

Rodchenkov said he is ready to provide evidence to WADA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and also evidence about the need to re-check the doping samples from the 2014 Winter Olympics kept in Lausanne. There, Tygart said, “what we see now is what happened in East Germany” in the 1970s and ’80s, when doping in the Eastern Bloc went virtually unchecked.

Advertisement

“In the same way we would not consider sanctioning all athletes from a particular sport if there is manipulation of the rules by the leadership of a federation”.

Bach says “the right to individual justice applies to every athlete in the world”.

The other athlete is runner Yuliya Stepanova, who informed the World Anti Doping Agency of the systematic, state-sponsored doping within the country.

“This can include further institutional measures, in particular on the level of the global federations”, he said, suggesting the possibility of Russian winter sports bodies being suspended.

In announcing the decision, the IAAF issued a report that included preliminary findings from McLaren stating evidence showed a “mandatory state-directed manipulation of laboratory analytical results operating within” the Moscow anti-doping lab from at least 2011 through the summer of 2013.

WADA has said that McLaren was given the authority to look into wider allegations of doping in Russian Federation. The only Russian athletes to be permitted into the Olympics, under a neutral flag, are those who can prove that they had no involvement in the scandal and were subject to drug tests outside of the country.

The 25-year-old was given the go-ahead on Sunday by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to compete internationally as a neutral athlete after a successful appeal against a blanket ban on her country’s track and field athletes for systematic doping.

More than 90 Russians applied to the IAAF for Rio eligibility but only two were approved, although the Russian Olympic Committee is challenging this at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Only one athlete, US -based long jumper Daria Klishina, was accepted among 68 applicants.

One Russian athlete who could compete in Rio is long jumper Darya Klishina, although it is not yet clear which nation’s colors she would wear. The IOC is now studying her case and whether it merits “an exemption” from the Olympic Charter.

Another sport that might be a little nervous about its post-Rio evaluation is golf, back in the Olympics for the first time since 1904.

More than 20 male players, including the top four in the world, have pulled out of Rio, a lot of them citing fears about the Zika virus, while Rory McIlory said on Tuesday he would not even watch on TV and instead follow “sports that matter”.

Klishina has responded to the criticism, defending her right to be allowed to take part in the Games.

Bach says the International Olympic Committee has to “respect the individual decisions” of golfers who pulled out citing concerns over Zika, but notes that there have also been “very different reasons” not related to the virus that have led some to skip the games.

Bach says “we are now looking forward to the Olympic tournament” but adds that golf will be evaluated along with other sports after the games.

Advertisement

“For the evaluations one of the main categories is of course the question of participation by the best players”.

Just one Russian track athlete is set for Rio Olympics, with no Russian flag