In Sports: Olympic news roundup.
The International Olympic Committee rejected a request Monday to invite 15 Russians to the Pyeongchang Winter Games just days after the athletes’ doping bans were overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 13 active athletes and two retired athletes working in support roles were among 28 athletes whose bans were overturned by CAS on Thursday. Bans on 11 other Russians were upheld.
Russia Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev denounced the IOC move as “shameful.”
“This decision is unfair, unlawful, amoral and politically charged,” Medvedev said on Facebook.
The IOC said as-yet-unpublished new evidence — not examined in the CAS process — gave rise to new doping suspicions about the 15 Russians. The Kremlin argued the CAS decision meant the 15 should be treated as clean.
“We very much regret it. We expected that the CAS decision would dispel all suspicions against the athletes,” said Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. “We’re convinced that the CAS ruling has proved that such suspicions had no grounds.”
In a statement Monday, the IOC said part of its ruling was because “the full reasoning for these decisions had not been made public” by CAS.
“The decision of the CAS had not lifted the suspicion of doping, or given the panel sufficient confidence to recommend ... those 13 athletes could be considered as clean.”
The IOC said the two coaches “should not be considered for an invitation” because of previous evidence available to the IOC.
The IOC added it had “additional elements and/or evidence” that included “traces of prohibited substances and evidence of steroid-profile manipulation.”
It said this raised questions about the “integrity of these athletes.”
Medvedev argued the IOC “has trampled on the Olympic Charter and elementary principles of law” by refusing to invite the Russians who had been exonerated by CAS.
“This decision has little in common with sports; its goal is to do political damage to Russia,” he said.
The IOC did not name the athletes, but Russian officials have said they include two goldmedal winners from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, cross-country skier Alexander Legkov and skeleton racer Alexander Tretiakov. They join dozens of other Russians who haven’t been convicted of any doping offenses but failed to pass the IOC vetting for an invitation.
The ruling was a blow to the IOC and has shifted some of the focus from Friday’s opening of the Games.
Speaking at the Olympic village, IOC President Thomas Bach repeated his disquiet over the CAS ruling and said an appeal was possible.
“We are extremely disappointed with this CAS decision,” Bach said. “We will clearly review it. If we can appeal it, we will appeal it.” Tirico set for host role: The biggest change for Americans watching the Winter Olympics on television this month probably will be the first face they see on the screen.
Mike Tirico is replacing Bob Costas as host of NBC’s primetime Olympics coverage, which starts Thursday from Pyeongchang. Costas hosted 11 Olympics, starting in 1992 until he stepped down last year. He became as identified with the event as Jim McKay was for an earlier generation.
“I’m taking the approach of I’m following him, not replacing him,” Tirico said. “You don’t replace someone like Bob.”
NBC has groomed Tirico and he has done homework on skiing and the luge. Whether he’s well-suited for the role and accepted by the audience won’t be clear until he does it.
The job requires someone conversant in sports, of course, but he’ll also have to deal with unanticipated news events, history and pop culture. He’ll be expected to talk about the tense relations between North and South Korea and the absence of the Russian Olympic team because of a doping scandal. A sense of humor helps, too.
Costas adeptly bridged these worlds, said Andrew Billings, a University of Alabama professor and author of “Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth.”
Tirico’s not interested in changing the job, or pretending that he duplicates Costas’ skills and interests. “I’ll just try to take my sensibilities and curiosities and mix them in along the way,” he said.