Russian athletes get Olympic opportunity
IOC decides against ban despite evidence of statesponsored doping
The Russian flag will be flying at the Summer Olympics, after all, as the International Olympic Committee decided Sunday that athletes from the nation mired in an ongoing drug scandal will be allowed to compete on the sporting world’s largest stage next month in Rio de Janeiro.
Less than two weeks before the start of the Rio Games, the International Olympic Committee ruled against barring Russia from the Summer Olympics but did approve measures that could reduce the number of Russian athletes participating. Members of the executive board met on a conference call Sunday and granted authority to the 28 individual federations that govern each sport to rule on which Russian athletes should be permitted to compete in their respective disciplines.
While that could curtail Russia’s participation in the Rio Olympics, it means the exact number of Russian athletes and medal hopefuls representing the nation could remain in flux until days before the opening ceremony, which is scheduled for Aug. 5.
“This is not about expectations. This is about doing justice to our clean athletes all
over the world,” IOC President Thomas Bach said on a conference call Sunday afternoon. “In this way, we protect these clean athletes because of the high criteria we set for all the Russian athletes. This may not please everybody on either side . . . .. but still the result today is one which is respecting the rules of justice and which is respecting the right of all the clean athletes all over the world.”
Others had a different interpretation of the IOC’s decision, contending that allowing Russia to participate in any part of the Rio Olympics threatens the integrity of the competition and invites imbalance and doubt to the Olympic playing field.
“The decision regarding Russian participation and the confusing mess left in its wake is a significant blow to the rights of clean athletes,” Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a statement.
Tygart has been among those most vocal in recent weeks for an outright ban of Russia at these Olympics, saying the nation’s athletes and sporting officials have sown seeds of distrust and shown a brazen willingness to break rules.
“The IOC has stated before that they believe anti-doping should be wholly independent, and that is in part why it is so frustrating that in this incredibly important moment, they would pass the baton to sports federations who may lack the adequate expertise or collective will to appropriately address the situation within the short window prior to the Games,” Tygart said. “The conflict of interest is glaring.”
In noting that the decision was a complicated — but unanimous — one for the executive board, Bach said the IOC struggled with the prospects of banning the entire country and punishing any athlete who might not have been specifically implicated in the controversy or ever accused of wrong-doing.
“At the end of the day, you have to be able to look into the eyes of the individual athlete concerned by your decision,” he said. “In this respect, I really am convinced of this decision and I’m fine with this decision.”
With Olympic competition scheduled to start in 12 days, the international federations are left with a very short window in which they must review the IOC’s stated criteria and determine which Russian athletes should be allowed to compete.
“This is a very ambitious timeline,” Bach said, “but we had no choice.”
Joseph de Pencier, CEO of the 59-Member Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations, said the IOC’s decision marks a “sad day for clean sport” and amounts to the Olympics’ powerful governing body opting to pass the buck to the international federations. He said with so little time, the international federations will have a difficult time applying the required criteria to properly approve clean Russian competitors.
“The IOC Executive Committee has failed to confront forcefully the findings of evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia corrupting the Russian sport system,” de Pencier said in a statement. “It has ignored the calls of clean athletes, a multitude of athlete organizations, and of leading National Anti-Doping Organizations, to do the right thing by excluding Russia from the Rio Olympic Games.”
While the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the international body that oversees track and field, has already ruled that Russia would not be permitted to compete in Olympic competition, some sports federations, such as gymnastics, have indicated a preference to see Russian athletes competing for Olympic medals. Bruno Grandi, president of the FIG, the international gymnastics federation, for example, said in a statement last week, “Blanket bans have never been and will never be just.”