Russians lose appeal over doping ban
45 athletes barred from 2018 Olympics
PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of — Russia’s desperate attempt to get 45 banned athletes — including several medal favourites — into the Pyeongchang Olympics failed just hours before Friday’s opening ceremony.
The International Olympic Committee had banned Russia because of a massive doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games, but gave individual athletes the chance to apply for admission to compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”
There were 168 Russians who passed the vetting process. Dozens more filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On Thursday, the court upheld the IOC’s right to decide who can compete.
Anti-doping officials praised the ruling, which is a heavy blow to Russian medal chances.
“That’s it. The story is over,” said Russian delegation spokesman Konstantin Vybornov.
After two days of hearings, the CAS panel ruled that the commissions that evaluated whether Russian applicants were eligible did not act in a “discriminatory, arbitrary or unfair manner.”
CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb read from a statement and declined to take questions, saying the IOC process “could not be described as a sanction but rather as an eligibility decision.”
The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency welcomed the decision. The IOC said the decision “supports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes.”
WADA president Craig Reedie described it as “absolutely correct.”
Among those excluded are six-time gold medallist Viktor Ahn, the short track speedskater whose return to his native South Korea for the Olympics had been eagerly anticipated by local fans.
Also out are cross-country skiing gold medallist Alexander Legkov and skeleton gold medallist Alexander Tretiakov, as well as potential medal contenders in biathlon, luge and bobsled.
Three former NHL players — Valeri Nichushkin, Sergei Plotnikov and Anton Belov — also lost appeals, though it was widely considered unlikely they would have played even if they had been successful because the Russian roster is already full.