Athletics NZ calls on International Olympic Committee not to backdown on Russian Federation

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would seek the intervention of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee over the decision to exclude Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics.

Inside the Grand Hotel Wien, a favourite for Austrian aristocracy since the 19th century, the most powerful man in athletics Lord Coe announced the Russian team are banned from the Rio Olympics.

The decision from the sport’s governing body was made after a task force created to oversee the country’s reform measures found the Russian Athletics Federation had not met the reinstatement requirements to be eligible to compete in global competition. The container malfunctioned and spilled, and the athlete later tested positive for banned substances.

Putin flatly denied the accusation on Friday, saying the government “cannot be involved”.

Younger was a member of the independent WADA commission that uncovered widespread doping in Russian track and field.

Andersen said given the breadth of doping in Russian Federation, it would be hard for the IAAF to grant exemptions.

“Clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behaviour of other athletes and officials”, Mutko said.

Meanwhile, IAAF chief Sebastian Coe himself is in the dock over claims the two-time Olympic champion enlisted the help of the fugitive son of disgraced former IAAF president Lamine Diack for his successful election campaign past year.

“We will look at the next step for us”, said CAS president John Coates. “But when you question our system that way, it paints a shadow over who she is and what she’s about when it comes to being a clean athlete”.

WADA issued a statement welcoming the ban and also revealed that “preliminary findings” of an ongoing probe into Russian doping, which were shared with the IAAF Task Force, showed that there is: “Sufficient corroborated evidence to confirm…a mandatory state-directed manipulation of laboratory analytical results operating within the Moscow-accredited laboratory from at least 2011 forward including the period of the IAAF World Championships in 2013”.

The idea of competing under an IOC banner – as athletes from disputed regions or banned National Olympic Committees have done in the past – has been mooted several times, but Isinbaeva dismissed it last month. The IAAF’s ruling council convened in Vienna to consider whether to uphold or lift the suspension of Russia’s track and field federation. In multiple cases, athletes evaded testers who arrived at competitions to collect samples, the report said.

The most likely way that Russian-based athletes can secure their place in Rio is by route of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko made an 11th hour plea with an open letter to officials Friday that appears to have fallen flat.

He also said Russia’s anti-doping agency and athletics body were “rotten to the core”.

Russian track and field athletes were banned from competing in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in a unanimous decision Friday by the International Association of Athletics Federations, which decried Russia’s failure to clean up corruption and deception in its anti-doping system. The suspension was first imposed in November.

“We acknowledge the job being done by WADA and Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) to keep sport clean and will continue to work with them”, she added.