Anti-doping leader has no sympathy for unhelpful Russians

The IAAF suspended Russian Federation from competition in November after an WADA report which detailed a systematic doping program and corruption by sports officials.

“I’m a human being and I feel sorry for the Russian athletes that haven’t actually done anything wrong and unfortunately that could mean they don’t get to compete in Rio”, he told Press Association Sport.

It urged them to do more to “fully discover the truth” about cheating in sport.

One of the more hardcore opponents of Russia is French Athletics Federation President Bernard Amsalem, who believes the only Russian who should be allowed to compete is Yuliya Stepanova, the middle-distance runner who served a two-year doping ban before turning whistleblower.

The letter is signed by the hugely respected chairs of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the Wada athletes’ committee, Claudia Bokel and Beckie Scott, whose organisations represent the views and protect the rights of thousands of athletes worldwide.

The report also alleged that some Russian athletes have actively avoided taking tests, while anti-doping officials have been threatened by security personnel and Olympic qualifier events have been held in restricted access areas.

The letter starts by telling the IOC and Wada that Rodchenko’s allegations deal “heavy blows” to the Olympic and anti-doping movements, and reminds them of the inadequacy of their efforts to deal with Russian Federation and protect clean athletes.

At the Russian National Walking Championship on 27 February, 15 athletes mysteriously did not start, withdrew or were disqualified, the report said.

As the Russian sports minister considers the legal path, 13 former Olympians has written to IAAF, campaigning to let their clean athletes compete.

Another revelation Wednesday was WADA’s release of a report detailing continued corruption in Russia’s testing program, even after British anti-doping authorities took it over.

“To pursue those who cheat effectively may mean taking hard decisions between collective responsibility and individual justice”, the letter said. In such cases, “sample bottles (are) often not with corresponding chain of custody form”, WADA said. Both viewpoints are likely to be aired Friday.

Bulgarian weightlifters have already been banned from Rio by the worldwide federation because of doping, but their number is small compared to the Russian track team. “A lot of credibility is at stake for the Russians, the IAAF and the IOC”. While some critics have called for Russia’s entire Olympic team to be excluded, there is no indication of that happening. No country has ever been thrown out of the Olympics for doping. However, no Russian officials have publicly made that threat, and staging a boycott would jeopardize Russia’s status for all future Olympics.