Antidoping Officials Are Expected to Ask That Russia Be Barred From Rio Olympics

[Tony T]

Antidoping Officials Are Expected to Ask That Russia Be Barred From Rio Olympics (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/sports/olympics/russia-doping-summer-games-rio.html?action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=64050103&pgtype=Homepage&_r=0)

“In an interview on Saturday, Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said: “We’re not asking for the worst, and obviously we hope there’s no doping going on by states. But if we’re not preparing for all potential outcomes, then we’re not fulfilling our promise to clean athletes.”

"Reasoned Decision" not enough??
Has Travis gone "soft"?

[peanutgallery]

If that's the case, then the USA (and many other countries) shouldn't be that far behind. There are no saints in the whole deal

I think the result of this cycle is that the Olympics have jumped the shark. Expecting a total disaster

[adub]

It's all a joke.

[Hilltopperny]

It's all a joke.

Sure is...

[CampyorBust]

Wowy wow wow man, deja vu. How can I refuse such an invitation?

The explanation is simpler than you think…white walkers!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/PedalPusher33/q26kfn9i5ymxm4zpm2f6_zpsntczj0lv.jpg

And as we all know they live up north right? So yes the logic is sound.

Now for you up standing citizens, no this is a continuation of the most virulent propaganda campaign of all time. No these are not the desperate death throws of a bloated empire and the grand pyramid scheme on the verge of collapse. Its those old no good Rooskies, we told you they were no good, we told you they were false! Boogy Boogy sheep! What's that you say? What! You have a question? Move a long sir. You’re still here! Papieren bitte!

On a more serious note, yes the world of sports is rife with doping and cheating everywhere, just like the financial world and just about any field of human endeavor. That’s right humans for the most part are fearful opportunistic natural born cheaters, liars and herd animals! We live in a very very sick society. If this finally cleans up Russia’s act so be it and good, but that’s not the goal there are no benevolent intentions here. Which is terrifying.

Lets play a little game called spot the doper...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/PedalPusher33/Dope_zpsno9vkd0i.jpg

Shame on you!

[Tony T]

The Russian director of their antidoping laboratory has admitted he "developed a three-drug cocktail of banned substances that he mixed with liquor and provided to dozens of Russian athletes, helping to facilitate one of the most elaborate — and successful — doping ploys in sports history."

What more does Travis need to hear? And what does he mean by 'We’re not asking for the worst' He seems very laid back about these allegations.

Looks like we may have a new "most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history."

[cachagua]

The way to get doping out of sports is to make doping a sport -- an event unto itself. Local-level amateur competition, regional and national championships, Olympic and professional meets... and of course, an organization to see to the rules, and to make sure everyone follows 'em. Industry sponsorship, naturally (or is that the term I'm searching for?). Those of us less competition-minded can just do a little friendly doping, for fun.

This could actually work, but it'll never happen. Look at all the guys with respectable, high-paying careers as anti-dopers -- they'd be out of a job!

[rwsaunders]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/russia-doping-crisis-map-reveals-the-worst-nations-for-doping-in-sport-a6728916.html

Why pick on Russia? Turkey and France have essentially the same number of doping violations per capita as Russia.

[weiwentg]

If that's the case, then the USA (and many other countries) shouldn't be that far behind. There are no saints in the whole deal

I think the result of this cycle is that the Olympics have jumped the shark. Expecting a total disaster

It's true that there are no saints. No doubt many individual Americans, for example, dope. But organized doping by teams magnifies the problem. Organized doping by states is even worse.

[Fivethumbs]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/russia-doping-crisis-map-reveals-the-worst-nations-for-doping-in-sport-a6728916.html

Why pick on Russia? Turkey and France have essentially the same number of doping violations per capita as Russia.

Yeah but in Red Dawn we weren't invaded by the Turks or the French.:)

[Tony T]

Why pick on Russia? Turkey and France have essentially the same number of doping violations per capita as Russia.

Probably because Turkey and France's antidoping laboratory director hasn't admitted guilt.
And according to Tygart, "we hope there’s no doping going on by states", so that's all that Tygart needs: Hope.

[benito]

The way to get doping out of sports is to make doping a sport -- an event unto itself. Local-level amateur competition, regional and national championships, Olympic and professional meets... and of course, an organization to see to the rules, and to make sure everyone follows 'em. Industry sponsorship, naturally (or is that the term I'm searching for?). Those of us less competition-minded can just do a little friendly doping, for fun.

This could actually work, but it'll never happen. Look at all the guys with respectable, high-paying careers as anti-dopers -- they'd be out of a job!

Some pals an are I are getting together a local league. If anybody in the tri state areas feels like trying out...

We are still waiting to hear back from Anheiser Busch and the state of Colorado though.

[peanutgallery]

Do you really believe that entire segments of the US olympic team are not particpating in an organized doping scheme? The stakes are high and they will do what it takes. The russians have only taken it to a level that has now seen the light of day, there are others and probably just as well funded

It's true that there are no saints. No doubt many individual Americans, for example, dope. But organized doping by teams magnifies the problem. Organized doping by states is even worse.

[Waldo]

Snip:


http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/PedalPusher33/Dope_zpsno9vkd0i.jpg


Serena needs to keep her head down and do better at keeping her eye on the ball. I'll keep my eye on Maria...

[rnhood]

Yea, I would rather watch Maria anyday, but gosh I would like to be taking whatever Serena is taking.

[weiwentg]

Do you really believe that entire segments of the US olympic team are not particpating in an organized doping scheme? The stakes are high and they will do what it takes. The russians have only taken it to a level that has now seen the light of day, there are others and probably just as well funded

Would you agree that state sponsored doping perverts the very machinery of justice in a way that (most) team doping schemes cannot? For example, ONCE ran a team doping scheme, but it got busted up with Puerto. State sponsored doping as the Russians are allegedly doing it is worse, because they have the state's entire resources - and that includes getting their own WADA-accredited lab complicit in the scheme.

If you agree with Landis' contention that Lance Armstrong effectively bought the UCI off his back, then it shows that yes, some team doping schemes can approach state sponsored ones in insidiousness (this may not be an actual word, but you get the point). But LA was sui generis - he was in his own class. So yeah, It's entirely justifiable to get the Russians out of the Olympics.

Also, your phrasing seems to imply that if we aren't catching team doping here, then we have no right to ask state sanctioned schemes to be banned. This seems like a logical fallacy to me. I mean, sure, the Russians can go complain that they're being treated unfairly, but they are breaking the rules, and they are breaking them in a way that is even more of an existential threat to the spirit of the sport.

[ajhapps]

Would you agree that state sponsored doping perverts the very machinery of justice in a way that (most) team doping schemes cannot? For example, ONCE ran a team doping scheme, but it got busted up with Puerto. State sponsored doping as the Russians are allegedly doing it is worse, because they have the state's entire resources - and that includes getting their own WADA-accredited lab complicit in the scheme.

If you agree with Landis' contention that Lance Armstrong effectively bought the UCI off his back, then it shows that yes, some team doping schemes can approach state sponsored ones in insidiousness (this may not be an actual word, but you get the point). But LA was sui generis - he was in his own class. So yeah, It's entirely justifiable to get the Russians out of the Olympics.

Also, your phrasing seems to imply that if we aren't catching team doping here, then we have no right to ask state sanctioned schemes to be banned. This seems like a logical fallacy to me. I mean, sure, the Russians can go complain that they're being treated unfairly, but they are breaking the rules, and they are breaking them in a way that is even more of an existential threat to the spirit of the sport.

Exactly this.

State-sponsored doping, particularly where there is evidence of intimidation by state actors, is especially egregious. Anyone trying to build parallels between individuals, or even teams, making the decision to cheat is really, really far off base. Individual cheaters are forced to exist in the shadows, expending resources to hide their activities. When you have nations sponsoring these activities, it allows the cheaters to do so in the open, with little fear of reprisals.

I don't think this is in any way searching for the "Russian boogeyman." They (more than allegedly) cheated in a widespread, systematic way that was aided by law enforcement, national security agents, and national laboratories. That's a big, big difference than anything LA or an individual tennis player has done.

[fignon's barber]

State-sponsored doping, particularly where there is evidence of intimidation by state actors, is especially egregious. Anyone trying to build parallels between individuals, or even teams, making the decision to cheat is really, really far off base. Individual cheaters are forced to exist in the shadows, expending resources to hide their activities. When you have nations sponsoring these activities, it allows the cheaters to do so in the open, with little fear of reprisals.

I don't think this is in any way searching for the "Russian boogeyman." They (more than allegedly) cheated in a widespread, systematic way that was aided by law enforcement, national security agents, and national laboratories. That's a big, big difference than anything LA or an individual tennis player has done.[/QUOTE]


This.
I'm an ex-hockey player. The Flyers drafted a Russian kidwith their first pick this year, from the Russian junior national team that was banned from the Worlds. In an interview, he stated that the players never knew knew they were even taking PEDs. "They gave us tablets each morning with our juice and told us they were vitamins". Remember, these kids are 15-17 years old, so this could be true. If so, a big difference.

[Cicli]

So, did they get the boot today?

[Tony T]

So, did they get the boot today?

Olympic Officials Hold Off on Russia Ban, for Now (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/sports/olympics/russia-rio-games-ban-doping.html?hpw&rref=sports&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well)

The International Olympic Committee, under fierce pressure to respond aggressively to a doping scheme that corrupted the results of the past two Olympics, said on Tuesday that it was considering legal options to discipline Russian athletes ahead of the coming Rio Games and had appointed a five-person disciplinary commission.

The announcement was made following an urgent meeting of the organization’s top leaders. Some were gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the I.O.C. is headquartered, while others from around the world were on the phone. Their announcement, which could ultimately lead to gaping holes throughout the competitions in Rio, reflected a struggle to preserve the integrity of one of the sports world’s most prestigious events.

[oldpotatoe]

Vlad is waiting till this is closer to Rio-:eek:

[1happygirl]

Looks like a no-go for the Russian athletes.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/21/cas-upholds-ban-olympics-russian-athletes?CMP=share_btn_tw

Cas upholds Rio Olympics ban on 68 Russian athletes
• IAAF suspended country after investigation revealed systematic doping
• IOC was waiting on ruling as it decides whether to ban entire country
The court of arbitration for sport upheld the ban on Russia’s track and field team from competing at the Rio Olympic Games and in doing so dramatically increased the pressure on the International Olympic Committee to extend such a ban to other Russian sports.

The IOC president, Thomas Bach, who is a close friend of Vladimir Putin, is known to be firmly against a blanket ban but he is facing growing calls to make sure Russian competitors in other sports are either excluded or made to undergo an individual examination by the World Anti-Doping Agency before being allowed to take part.

The Cas said it had unanimously voted to uphold the decision of the IAAF, athletics’ governing body, which decided in November to ban Russia following long and sustained revelations about state-sponsored doping.

The IAAF had argued no athlete who had trained inside the Russian system could be trusted to be clean because positive samples were routinely switched or destroyed, athletes were forewarned of tests, and there was a deep-rooted culture of performance-enhancing drugs. The Cas decision to accept the IAAF’s position means 68 Russian athletes who had appealed, with the backing of the Russian Olympic Committee, have nowhere left to turn.

As things stand, the long jumper Darya Klishina, who trains in Miami and was cleared to compete by the IAAF’s Doping Review Board, will be the only Russian track and field star in Rio. The whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova, who was also approved to run by the IAAF, still has to wait for IOC approval to compete.

The news was welcomed by the IAAF, which said the verdict had “created a level playing field for athletes and upheld the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport and support the credibility and integrity of competition”. The IAAF president, Sebastian Coe, struck a conciliatory tone, saying: “While we are thankful our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti-doping code have been supported, this is not a day for triumphant statements. I didn’t come into this sport to stop athletes from competing. It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude.


“Beyond Rio the IAAF taskforce will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean safe environment for its athletes so its federation and team can return to international recognition and competition.”

The Kremlin quickly expressed its disapproval of the decision, which was thought by most sports lawyers to be in the balance. Its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I certainly regret such a decision by the court which refers to absolutely all of our athletes [who filed the claims]. The principle of collective responsibility is hardly acceptable.” Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, added: “I regret this decision. Unfortunately, a certain precedent has been established for collective responsibility.”

The political wrangling will continue over what to do with other Russian sports. Some senior figures believe the Russia team could be banned outright based on the IOC’s Olympic charter. Article 4.5 warns national Olympic committees that, while they can work with governments, “they shall not associate themselves with any activity which would be in contradiction with the Olympic charter”. Article 4.6 states they “must preserve their autonomy and resist pressures of any kind which may prevent them from complying with the Olympic charter”.

Those figures point out that on Monday the law professor Richard McLaren revealed that Yuri Nagornykh, the former Russian deputy minister of sport, who was also a member of the ROC, had the job of deciding whether every positive drugs test from the Moscow Laboratory from 2011 would be covered up or not. The attempt to distort sport went right to the heart of government and the ROC.


Many in the IOC would prefer to allow individual federations the opportunity to ban Russian competitors from their sport. Whatever happens, Russian track and field athletes are unlikely to be the only ones banned. The International Weightlifting Federation is on the verge of confirming Russia’s team will be banned from Rio, along with Belarus, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, and there are also questions about Russia’s swimmers and rowers.

Bach is likely to continue to face pressure from anti-doping groups and athletes to take a strong position on Russia. The president has received an urgent letter from more than a dozen national anti-doping organisations urging the IOC to immediately suspend the ROC and ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics – allowing them to compete under a neutral flag only if a taskforce, approved by the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency, verified they were clean.

This, they argued, would strike a fair balance between the IOC’s stated concerns between collective responsibility and individual justice “so that no truly clean elite Russian athlete is barred from the Olympic Games”.
IAAF statement in response to CAS award: http://goo.gl/SvXeZq

Zika, Drugs, Injuries, Pregnant wives/gfs---My question, So who is actually going to the Olympics? If I go would I be assured a medal? (or could I at least sing during prime mosquito time during the opening ceremonies)? tee tee

[CampyorBust]

Article 33. No persons may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

A UPlifting enlightened article on the subject matter…. http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/07/collective-punishment-against-the-russian-people/ A cut and paste for those that want to read it here, italicised for your reading pleasure…

Collective Punishment against the Russian People
by Kim Petersen / July 21st, 2016

To the professor’s question concerning what a teacher should do to bring control to a classroom, a would-be teacher proffered: tell the students that if anyone disturbs the class, then the entire class will have a detention.

“That’s collective punishment,” I responded, to which I added with a tongue-in-cheek, hyperbolic flourish, “and it’s a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.”

Nonetheless, why should innocent people be made to pay for the mistakes of others?

Imagine if someone on your four-member bowling team was pulled over and charged with DUI. Imagine then that your entire team was thrown out of the bowling league. How would you feel?

Imagine if someone pulled off a major heist in your hometown and the legal authorities announced a round-the-clock curfew until the perpetrator is apprehended. Everyone would be affected, albeit it may not be adverse for all; but the actions of one or a few are used against others innocent of said actions. Is this fair? Is this how justice is carried out?

Responding to allegations of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) imposed a ban against all Russian track and field athletes, irrespective of whether all athletes were doping or not. Collective punishment is what is being meted out against Russian track and field athletes for doping infractions committed by some Russian athletes. As a final blow, the Court of Arbitration for Sport turned down the appeal of 68 Russian athletes seeking to overturn the ban.

If athletes are caught cheating, then by all means, apply the appropriate penalties to those athletes. If there is an organization in place arranging circumvention of rules, then penalize the organization and the complicit persons within the organization. But do not punish the innocent!

World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren accused Russia’s sports ministry of overseeing doping of the country’s Olympic athletes. The IOC may even extend the collective punishment beyond track and field to all Russian athletes and ban them from the upcoming Rio Olympics.

McLaren suggested Russian athletes could compete in the Rio Olympics if they didn’t compete for Russia. In other words, the athletes are being asked to throw away patriotic allegiance. (Not a bad idea — overcoming patritism, but it should be expanded to all people in all nations, at least as far as when patriotism rises to level of chauvinism or jingoism.)

Hypocrisy seems very much at play here. Back at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Canada’s 100-meter sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the gold medal as well as the world record he had set. An investigation was carried out in Canada, the Dubin Inquiry, and doping was found to be rife among Canada’s track and field athletes. There was no call for a ban on Canada’s track and field athletes.

As for the second-place finisher at the Seoul Olympics, Johnson’s nemesis, American Carl Lewis was awarded the gold medal. In fact, four of the top five finishers later were found to have tested positive for doping. American Calvin Smith finished who fourth behind Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis, and Linford Christie. Today he is the only man among the first five finishers in Seoul untainted by a doping scandal. Yet Lewis keeps his gold from Seoul. The United States Olympic Committee hid Lewis’s positive test results, and over a hundred positive tests between 1988 and 2000. There have been calls for an independent inquiry into the US’s record on drug issues, but no ban was imposed on American athletes.

Meanwhile, in Rio favelas are being razed and poor people are being forced from their homes, the environment is being destroyed, and people are being killed all so the show can go on. One need only look at what happened in Greece a few years ago when it hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, building new venues and all the rest of it, going in debt up to its ears, and now these stadiums, facilities, and whatever else are part of the theft by the west, Europe, the banks, etc. The Olympics have stringent requirements for facilities, require under-the-table payments, and usually leave the taxpayers with a large debt burden to the glee of elitists and the bankers.

Conclusion

It should be noted that there may be much more to the Russian doping story than state/corporate media reveal. Politics may lie behind the IAAF ban. (Read Andrey Fomine’s “The Olympics as a Tool of the New Cold War.”)

Since taking increasingly bold actions against US imperialism, Russia has reaped a whirlwind of hysterical demonization by western governments and their stenographic media. The US, against its promise, expanded NATO right up to the Russian borders. The US spent $5 billion dollars to faciltate a fascist-executed coup in Ukraine. Yet, the US had the gumption to blame Russia for turmoil in the ethnic Russian-populated eastern Ukraine. Russia was criticized for holding a referendum and respecting the right to self-determination of the Crimean people, while the Puerto Rican indepence movement is squashed. The US had the gall to blame Russia for the downing of Malaysian Flight MH17 over Ukraine, since shown to be dubious. After destroying Libya and toppling its legitimate government, terrorist groups were unleashed (and supported) by the US and its allies.

Then the US turned its lethal gaze toward the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. They planted a false story of a Syrian government gas attack which was debunked by Vladimir Putin. Yet, the US was in an uproar when Russia, bidden by the legitimate government, stepped in to staunch the western-backed terrorism in Syria. More recently, the US has provided anti-missile “defense” systems to NATO satellite states bordering on Russia. This by the US which threatened a nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Hypocrisy seems rife.

Given all of the above, and given the widespread doping in international competition, given that Canada had a systematic doping program for its track athletes and that the US organizationally covered up doping among its athletes and both western states were never subjected to collective punishment … the collective punishment exacted against Russian athletes should induce a vigorous skepticism as to the nature of the punishment. Collectively punishing Russian athletes implies, by extension, that Russian society is guilty.

A more perspicacious observer might be inclined to recognize the collective punishment of Russian athletes as western demonization at work.

Aaaand another…
The Olympics as a Tool of the New Cold War
http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/07/the-olympics-as-a-tool-of-the-new-cold-war/

[weiwentg]

Article 33. No persons may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.



Article 33 of the 4th Geneva convention deals with "the protection of civilian persons in time of war" (emphasis mine). This is neither war nor criminal justice. This is sport.

If you want to argue that excluding the entire Russian Olympic team is excessive, then do that. But for heaven's sake, brining the Geneva Conventions in is ludicrous.