Putin encouraging olympic team
RUSSIA have received a blanket ban against competing at the Paralympic games after acts of state-sponsored doping.
Following the IOC’s decision to permit Russian competitors under their nation’s flag, the government has now been penalised by the IPC in the build up the Paralympics games, which they will play no part in.
In July 2016, WADA published the Mclaren report, which implicates Russia in state-sponsored doping at Sochi 2014.
President of the IPC Sir Phillip Craven told the media yesterday that the anti-doping system in Russia is ‘broken, corrupted and entirely compromised’.
But the Russian camp will feel frustrated by the news as clean, challenging athletes are pulled out after years of hard work. Nevertheless, IPC president Phillip Craven says the suspension is a result of state sponsorship who are ‘cheating its athletes’.
The Russian team now serve a ban up until further notice.
Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach decided that clean athletes should be allowed to prove that they have a flawless record in order to compete at the olympics currently taking palace.
Russia have since won medals, including a silver for Russia’s Yulia Efimova who received jeers from the crowd because of her recent history doping. Having received a ban from the olympics just last month, it has been uplifted so that she could compete.
GB cyclist Lizzie Armitstead has drew criticism over missing three consecutive drug tests, which allegedly she had been forewarned about.
Her reasons behind skipping tests were enough to protect her Olympic position, if not her reputation.
She narrowly missed out on a medal after falling behind due to a bike change at the start.
Now further doping revelations have evolved within the Kenyan team. Major Michael Rotich who is an official of Kenyan athletics headed home following a journalists subterfuge, which reveals conversations between them regarding bribery payments of £10,000 and information about when drug tests convene.
The Times reporter recording the footage misleads the official suggesting he is from a British sports team.
Rotich claims he made the comments to find out who the undercover reporters were and protect his athletes, however other Kenyan sports officials have not supported him.
Athletics Kenya vice president Fatma Awale said: “As a country and as a nation we are shocked and surprised with the new developments.”
Before the Olympics had even started already athletes had been sent back home for failing drug tests, including Irish boxer Michael O’Reilly, Cypriot weightlifter Antonis Martasidis and a swimmer who prefers to remain anonymous.
The Kenyan official is now being investigated by WADA.
