Russia faces blanket ban from the Paralympics
Russia was set to be thrown out of the Paralympics last night, destroying once and for all the credibility of the decision to allow hundreds of its athletes into the Olympics.
The news emerged as Rio 2016 got off to a shambolic start yesterday, with fans forced to queue for hours to enter venues.
A controlled explosion was carried out at the men’s road race, while disaster was narrowly avoided when a bullet was fired into the media tent at the equestrian centre.
Organisers were forced to apologise for the chaos at the start of a Games already marred by the worst drugs scandal in sporting history.
That scandal was expected to lead today to the International Paralympic Committee announcing a blanket ban on Russians competing at next month’s Paralympics after it ruled an investigation which found the country guilty of state-sponsored doping and a corresponding cover-up warranted the ultimate sanction.
The decision followed the outrage provoked by the International Olympic Committee’s refusal to expel the rogue nation from the Olympics, something which has led to more than two-thirds of its original delegation competing at the Rio Games. The IPC opened provisional suspension proceedings against the national Paralympic committee of Russia last month following a report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, which exposed the full scale of Russia’s state-sponsored doping regime.
After gathering further evidence from McLaren and giving Russia the opportunity to make its case during a meeting at its headquarters in Bonn on Wednesday, the IPC board decided to impose a suspension that will remain in force during the Paralympics.
Its final verdict will be announced by president Sir Philip Craven at a press conference in Rio today.
The bad news at Rio 2016 kept on coming yesterday as angry fans were forced to stand in the scorching heat while security staff struggled to cope with the influx.
The organising committee’s director of communications, Mario Andrada, said: “First, we apologise to everybody who is standing in the sun and in line outside the venues. We obviously need to upgrade that part of the Games.”
The queues were largely to blame for the huge number of empty seats in virtually all venues, resulting in a flat atmosphere almost across the board.
The first gold medal of the Games was won by a shooter, American Ginny Thrasher, who set an Olympic record in the women’s 10-metre rifle event.