The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided against a ban of the entire Russian Olympic team at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As a result the IOC has been widely criticised and many prominent Team GB athletes such as Greg Rutherford, Goldie Sayers and Jeanette Kwakye were angered by the stance taken by the IOC.
The defending Olympic long jump champion, Rutherford, told the Guardian: “This is a spineless attempt to appear as the nice guy to both sides.”
Via her Twitter account, Sayers said: “The IOC have missed the biggest moment in their history to honour the dedication & sacrifice clean athletes make to compete at the Olympics”.
For javelin thrower Sayers, the move is of particular significance as she lost out on a medal to Russian athlete, Mariya Abakumova at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Though earlier this year the Russian had her medal stripped for doping and Sayers was awarded the bronze.
While it could seem unfair that many clean Russian athletes may miss out on a chance to live their Olympic dream, Kwakye revealed that she was instead more sympathetic to people like Sayers.
The former Olympic sprinter said in an article for the Guardian: “I don’t feel sorry for the 68 athletes who appealed against the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) ban from the Rio Olympics; I pity all those competitors who were cheated out of success”.
Despite the indignation from the Team GB Olympians, it seems that track and field will bear no Russian presence at the coming Summer Olympic Games.
The IOC has shifted the burden of responsibility onto individual sporting federations and the IAAF has stated that a Russian athletics team will not be reinstated into the Games.
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko had, however, remained hopeful that the majority of the Russian athletes will be able to compete at the Olympics, in light of the recent decision from the IOC. While he promised that “Russia is committed to fight for cleanliness of Olympic sport”, the IAAF is unlikely to yield to the Russians’ demands.
Though, the IAAF issued a statement of support to other sports. The federation said that it is “ready to offer advice to international sports federations”.
The news comes in the wake of the IOC’s recent banning of Russian whistleblower, Yulia Stepanova, from the Games due to a two year doping suspension between 2011 and 2013.
Yet the IOC’s verdict on Stepanova was not well received by the former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority who pointed out that there would be many previously banned athletes from other countries that would be allowed to compete at the Games.
He posed the question on Twitter: “How can IOC ban RUS athletes who have already served ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violations) bans but allow athletes from other nations who have already served ADRV bans?”
The Russian 800m runner, Stepanova, had recently been permitted by the IAAF to compete under a neutral flag alongside long jumper Darya Klishina following her revelations.
While Klishina was cleared to compete after passing verified drugs tests outside of her native Russia, the IOC may overrule her bid to compete as a neutral athlete as it is against the rules of the Olympic Charter.
