While USOC waits on doping probes, others in United States want action

PARK CITY, Utah—While a growing number of American athletes and Olympic leaders are calling for Russia’s ouster from the upcoming games, executives at the U.S. Olympic Committee insist they must wait for the results of doping investigations that will determine the country’s status.

“This has taken a long time to get sorted out, and we’re very anxious to see the outcome,” USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said Monday. “Until they come out with their findings, it’s premature to prejudge the outcome. But obviously, if things are as they appear … there have to be consequences.”

The USOC’s wait-and-see attitude contrasts with those of American CEOs including Tiger Shaw (U.S. Ski and Snowboard), Max Cobb (U.S. Biathlon) and Travis Tygart (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency), along with athletes Susan Dunklee, Lowell Bailey (biathlon) and Andy Newell (cross-country skiing). All want to see Russia banned from the Olympics, with exceptions made for athletes who can prove they’ve been subject to a robust anti-doping program, and would then compete under a neutral flag.

Shaw, whose organization will make up more than one-third of the U.S. team at the Pyeongchang Games, said “we’re tired of waiting for the apparatus to do nothing.”

“I just have this pit in my stomach that people in power are going to sweep some things under the rug and not have athletes or institutions face the music,” Shaw said.

Last year, an independent investigation led by Richard McLaren documented evidence of a state-sponsored doping system in Russia that touched 1,000 athletes in 30 sports. McLaren found that urine samples had been tampered with among Russians who won 15 medals at the Sochi Games. The International Olympic Committee has been reviewing McLaren’s report via two investigations— one to determine whether state-sponsored manipulation of the doping system existed and the other to sort through the individual cases to determine penalties.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said he is confident the probes will be completed in time to determine Russia’s status before next year’s Olympics. But some Americans have grown impatient with the wait, and are worried about a repeat of the Rio Games, when Bach refused to ban the Russians and instead directed individual sports federations to sort out who would be eligible.

“They knew in July 2016” about tampering with bottles that held urine samples, Cobb said. “They’ve been bumbling along at three samples a day when there are more than 200 to check. How is that at all professional and serious?”