Russian track team barred from Rio Olympics

The powerhouse Russian track team, engulfed in an ever-widening doping scandal, will not be allowed to compete at the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics, it was announced Friday.

The team had been suspended from international competition since last year but had enacted a series of reforms and was seeking reinstatement from the IAAF, the governing body for track worldwide.

IAAF leaders, meeting at a hotel in Vienna, voted to uphold the ban after hearing from a task force created to monitor the situation.

“The head coach of the Russian athletics team and many of the athletes on that team appear unwilling to acknowledge the nature and extent of the doping problem in Russian athletics. And certain athletes and coaches appear willing to ignore the doping rules,” IAAF task force leader Rune Andersen said.

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A World Anti-Doping Agency report last November first presented evidence of systemic cheating among athletes, coaches and team officials within the country. There were also broader allegations of government involvement.

Since then, the Russians have overhauled their track federation’s leadership, offered to conduct additional drug testing and allowed international observers into their national anti-doping agency.

Vitaly Mutko, the nation’s sports minister, had insisted that maintaining the suspension would unfairly punish athletes who have never tested positive.

But another WADA report released earlier this week alleged that a “significant amount” of Russian athletes had skipped or evaded drug tests over the last six months.

With the International Olympic Committee — which has final say on the Games — unlikely to contradict the IAAF ruling, Russia’s track athletes are left with only a few options. The IOC released a statement Friday saying “The IOC has taken note of the decision of the IAAF Council. The IOC Executive Board will discuss the appropriate next steps in a telephone conference tomorrow.”

They might challenge the decision in court. There has also been talk of the IOC allowing those athletes with clean records to compete as individuals under the Olympic flag. The IAAF even mentioned that after Friday’s ruling.

“If there are individual athletes who can clearly and convincingly show that they are not tainted by the Russian system, there should be a process by which they can apply for permission to compete in international competition, not for Russia but as a neutral athlete,” Andersen said.

If none are deemed eligible, the absence will certainly be felt on the field of play. Russia finished ninth in the medals table at the most recent world championship in Beijing last summer.

After the decision was announced, the Russia Ministry of Sport released the following statement:

“We are extremely disappointed by the IAAF’s decision to uphold the ban on all of our track and field athletes, creating the unprecedented situation of a whole nation’s track and field athletes being banned from the Olympics. Clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behaviour of other athletes and officials. They have sacrificed years of their lives striving to compete at the Olympics and now that sacrifice looks likely to be wasted.

“We have done everything possible since the ban was first imposed to regain the trust of the international community. We have rebuilt our anti-doping institutions which are being led by respected international experts. Our athletes are being tested by the UK’s anti-doping agency, UKAD, and every one of them is undergoing a minimum of three tests in addition to the usual requirements. We have nothing to hide and feel we had met the IAAF’s conditions for re-entry.

“We now appeal to the members of the International Olympic Committee to not only consider the impact that our athletes’ exclusion will have on their dreams and the people of Russia, but also that the Olympics themselves will be diminished by their absence. The Games are supposed to be a source of unity, and we hope that they remain as a way of bringing people together.”

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UPDATES:

11:30 a.m.: This article has been updated with additional details and background.

This article was originally published at 8:51 a.m.