For decades during the Cold War the Soviet Union, East
Germany and some other communist countries were suspect of using illegal drugs
and substances to harvest troves of medals far above what seemed likely.
Olympic and athletic officials, already facing problems with
some athletes withdrawing from the Rio de Janeiro games because of Zika,
couldn’t have picked a worse time to make Moscow pay for all those years of
doping.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, described as a strong man
by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, apparently believes he can do the
same kinds of things the much larger Soviet Union can do and get away with it.
With some help from insiders on the Russia team, the World
Anti-Doping Agency based in Colorado Springs, Colo., decided it had too much
evidence of the Moscow government participating in rigged drug tests to ignore.
Some athletes from other countries said it seemed like they
were competing against “robots.”
The successor to the Russian KGB was charged with drilling
holes in walls so falsified drug tests could be passed through testing rooms
without being seen.
The Russians appealed the decision but were turned down by
the Court of Arbitration for sport. A handful of Russian athletes who have
lived and trained outside the country may be allowed to compete under the flag
of an unnamed country. Sixty-eight who had appealed their disqualifications were denied permission to compete.
Sebastian Coe, head of the International Association of
Athletics Federations, said he was “thankful” the ban had been upheld but it
was nothing to celebrate.
“I didn’t come into this sport to stop athletes from
competing,” he said in a statement.
There probably could be no finer athlete to drop the hammer.
Wikipedia says: “As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four
Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold
medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set eight outdoor and three
indoor world records in
middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records
in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in
1981 remained unbroken until 1997.”
Russia initially disputed the charges, then said all
countries did it and then settled on an entire country should not be blamed for
the actions of a few.
Russian Television said: “The Kremlin "deeply
regrets" CAS upholding the ban on Russian athletes, said presidential
spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“We can only express our deep regrets. The news is not too
good, and we certainly will have to analyze the situation, taking in account
the [CAS] decision, that's why I would avoid any further comments on that
matter," the Kremlin spokesman said.
“Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko also offered his
thoughts following the announcement.
"I will be brief, an official announcement will follow
later. I regret CAS's decision. “Unfortunately, by introduction of collective
responsibility, it is the creation of a precedent. But we didn't expect a
different result.”
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