Alexander Zhukov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), claimed the Russian team was “probably the cleanest in Rio”, as he announced that at least 271 Russian athletes would be permitted to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games.
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Accordingly, he said, a ban like that would do more harm than good.
Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the global anti-doping system yesterday after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russian Federation rocked preparations for the Rio Games. “The result is death and devastation”.
“It has been a long and testing journey to get to this point: for all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement, for our Brazilian friends and for the IOC”, Bach said, speaking of “challenging” final preparations but “unparalleled efforts” of Brazil. “We are witnessing direct interference of politics in sport”.
“Engagement and not isolation is the key to build a more robust anti-doping system”, he said.
Athletes train for a lifetime to make it to the top of their game.
The games begin on Friday and run through August 21.
The rowers, along with several other Russian athletes from other sports, had their appeals heard by CAS on Tuesday and Inside the Games reported that the Court upheld the principle of athletes being ruled ineligible if they can not effectively “prove they are clean”.
For the past 44 years, Israel, the families of the victims, and many parliaments worldwide have called on the Olympic Committee to honor the Munich massacre victims with an official minute of silence at the Opening or Closing ceremonies.
Zhukov said it was unfair that Russian sports stars such as double Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva would now watch the Games from home while past doping offenders including top US runner Justin Gatlin took to the field.
The IOC has been roundly criticized by many anti-doping bodies, athletes’ groups and Western media for not apply a complete ban on the Russian team.
Moscow, though, has vigorously denied running an athlete drugging program.
For him personally, Bach said, the test for defending the decision was “to look into the eyes of all the athletes”.
Bach insisted that athletes can not be punished for the wrongdoing of their government. “These principles are now being implemented”.
A World Anti Doping Agency report last month concluded that there had indeed been state-directed doping by Moscow during the Sochi games.
The International Boxing Association says all 11 of Russia’s boxers who qualified for the Rio Games have been cleared to participate following a doping review for all Russian athletes.
A three-person International Olympic Committee panel has the final say on which athletes will be admitted.
“If you are clean, you are respected and rewarded”.
Bach says “this is not about destroying structures, this is about improving significantly a system in order to have a robust and efficient anti-doping system so that such a situation that we face now can not happen again”.
Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution backing the IOC’s decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russia’s athletes.
The 10 athletes who comprise the first ever Olympic Refugee team are among the hundreds of inspiring human stories to be found in Rio.
The Russian Weightlifting Federation (RWF) has filed a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to suspend all Russian lifters from the 2016 Olympics.
Bach blasted an outright ban on Russian Federation as a “nuclear option”, adding: “Let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a “nuclear option”.
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With appeals involving a dozen other Russian swimmers, wrestlers and weightlifters still to be decided, the controversy over state-run doping blamed on the Russian government threatened to overshadow Friday’s opening ceremony. Even then, the chance to attend the Olympic Games at their peak is rare.
