The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Modahl hits out at blanket doping bans
Concern voiced at action against Russian team
Former athlete Diane Modahl has spoken out against blanket doping bans after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) decision to bar Russia from next month’s Paralympic Games.
The IPC suspended Russia’s Paralympic Committee (RPC) on August 7 in the wake of a damning report into the country’s state-run doping programme. The RPC appealed, but CAS found the decision was justified, meaning Russia will not be represented in the upcoming games in Rio from September 7-18.
The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) banned Russian athletes from the Olympic Games in Rio, although the International Olympic Committee decided against such a tough stance and Russia were able to send 278 competitors to Brazil.
However, with the RPC responsible for all Russian Paralympic sport, the IPC decided on a wholesale ban based on Richard McLaren’s report for the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The 1990 Commonwealth Games 800m champion Modahl produced a false positive for testosterone in 1994 but later had her doping ban overturned after flaws were unveiled with the way a laboratory in Lisbon had stored her sample.
In a letter to IAAF president Lord Coe dated May 16, 2016, which Modahl has now decided to make public in light of CAS upholding the IPC ban, Modahl said: “This is an extremely turbulent time for sport and particularly track and field.
“Russia is at the heart of the biggest drugs scandal in years, with the country’s track and field athletes currently suspended, their Rio Games hopes in turmoil and their drugs testing lab and anti-doping agency undergoing a complete overhaul. All these measures are a powerful strike against the cheats, and we must not allow them to win.
“However, I cannot and will not allow myself to forget that in the midst of all this is the gravest injustice of all.
“This very public case had now become more about the governing bodies fighting to save their system and reputations.
“A blanket ban is fundamentally wrong. It is not OK that innocent athletes should be punished because of the unscrupulous actions of others including the officials, the authorities and those doing the testing.
“It is not OK that livelihoods should be blighted because those we put our trust in are not willing to take it on the chin and rectify their mistakes.”