The 2020 Olympics: One Major Loser Announced
December 10, 2019 8:14 AM Subscribe
After the scandal that came out in the aftermath of the Sochi Winter Games, where it was revealed that the Russian anti-doping agency had, under orders from the Russian government, engaged in egregious tampering of anti-doping testing, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had been deliberating on how to properly sanction Russia. Today, they announced their decision - for the next four years, including the next Summer and Winter Games and the next World Cup, Russia will be banned from competing in all major sporting competitions. (SLBBC)
This ban is specifically targeting Russia - in the case of individual Russian athletes who can pass WADA testing, they will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag.
For those interested in what acts the Russian government did to have WADA drop the hammer (including, most notibly, the use of a cutaway in a wall to transfer clean urine samples in what must be the most literal "glory hole" ever), Netflix has a documentary on the whole affair called Icarus.
This ban is specifically targeting Russia - in the case of individual Russian athletes who can pass WADA testing, they will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag.
For those interested in what acts the Russian government did to have WADA drop the hammer (including, most notibly, the use of a cutaway in a wall to transfer clean urine samples in what must be the most literal "glory hole" ever), Netflix has a documentary on the whole affair called Icarus.
Just like last time but extended to all national-team sporting events WADA oversees, as I understand it. World Cup, Olympics, Paralympics....there might be others I'm not aware of.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:28 AM on December 10, 2019
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:28 AM on December 10, 2019
I strongly recommend watching Icarus, it’s super compelling and plays out like a spy movie. It starts with the filmmaker’s plan to document his attempt to try doping as an experiment in his amateur cycling career and then becomes this. So good.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 8:32 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 8:32 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
Yes, because Russian athletes aren't dictating policy to the Russian state, but the other way around. Or do you think that Russian athletes should be punished purely based on their nationality? The fact that a bunch of meatheaded hockey players broke neutrality upon winning the gold doesn't change that banning them purely for being Russian would have been wrong (hence why the IOC allowed them to compete under neutral colors.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:33 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:33 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
Given the ridiculous scale of their operations, and the fact that their lab got caught cheating AGAIN as soon as their ban was temporarily lifted I'm thinking 4 years is insufficient and we should just give up and go all-drug all-the-time because cheating is clearly worth it.
posted by aramaic at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by aramaic at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's worth remembering that during all of Putin's career as head of state, he's done nothing to improve the lives or dignity of Russians, and done nothing to elevate Russia as a nation. All he's done is try to bring other nations down to Russia's level.
Humiliations like this are needed to drive the point home.
posted by ocschwar at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2019 [43 favorites]
Humiliations like this are needed to drive the point home.
posted by ocschwar at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2019 [43 favorites]
When is China going to get caught?
posted by Melismata at 8:35 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 8:35 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
(And yes, team sports should just be banned altogether.)
posted by ocschwar at 8:35 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 8:35 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
I was at that gold medal game in 2018, and man, thanks for sharing the link because it was a reminder of just how good a game it was! I had bought tickets way early as a Canadian/Swede living in the US, thinking that at least one of those three teams would make it to the finals. Germany broke my heart 3 times in that Olympics... first and second by beating Sweden and Canada (I considered selling my ticket, but I figured what are the chances I'll be able to make it to another Olympic gold medal hockey match), and third when they *didn't* beat Russia. Despite wanting to not like them because they ousted my teams, they played with so much heart that you couldn't help but cheer for them.
posted by Grither at 8:37 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Grither at 8:37 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, because Russian athletes aren't dictating policy to the Russian state, but the other way around. Or do you think that Russian athletes should be punished purely based on their nationality? The fact that a bunch of meatheaded hockey players broke neutrality upon winning the gold doesn't change that banning them purely for being Russian would have been wrong (hence why the IOC allowed them to compete under neutral colors.)
The pretense that Russian athletes playing as a team aren't the Russian team and won't accrue any glory to the country they all live in and play for in every other international competition is stupid and undercuts the humiliation WADA is trying to dish out, though.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:42 AM on December 10, 2019 [37 favorites]
The pretense that Russian athletes playing as a team aren't the Russian team and won't accrue any glory to the country they all live in and play for in every other international competition is stupid and undercuts the humiliation WADA is trying to dish out, though.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:42 AM on December 10, 2019 [37 favorites]
Russia will be banned from competing in all major sporting competitions.
Well that should free up resources for them to really concentrate on voting competitions instead.
posted by ian1977 at 8:43 AM on December 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
Well that should free up resources for them to really concentrate on voting competitions instead.
posted by ian1977 at 8:43 AM on December 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
The pretense that Russian athletes playing as a team aren't the Russian team and won't accrue any glory to the country they all live in and play for in every other international competition is stupid and undercuts the humiliation WADA is trying to dish out, though.
Except that they aren't playing "as a team" except in a very loose sense of the word - most of the athletes are competing independently under a national banner.
(For an example a bit closer to home, this is why a few years back, there was a scandal over the Ohio State AD getting a bonus when an OSU wrestler won at the NCAA championship - beyond the usual NCAA bullshit, there was also the recognition that wrestlers at that tier did a lot of their development on their own outside of the school's purview, and thus the AD getting a bonus for something he had no real involvement in rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:50 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Except that they aren't playing "as a team" except in a very loose sense of the word - most of the athletes are competing independently under a national banner.
(For an example a bit closer to home, this is why a few years back, there was a scandal over the Ohio State AD getting a bonus when an OSU wrestler won at the NCAA championship - beyond the usual NCAA bullshit, there was also the recognition that wrestlers at that tier did a lot of their development on their own outside of the school's purview, and thus the AD getting a bonus for something he had no real involvement in rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:50 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
I strongly recommend watching Icarus, it’s super compelling and plays out like a spy movie. It starts with the filmmaker’s plan to document his attempt to try doping as an experiment in his amateur cycling career and then becomes this. So good.
A comedy spy movie perhaps. The level of ineptitude on display from the cheaters is only matched by the ineptitude of those who are supposed to catch the cheaters and the venality of the people in charge.
Russia is really in trouble only for cheating so openly and egregiously. They need to be more sophisticated like the USPS, Team Sky or American football players so that international athletic associations can maintain the pretence of fair competition by occasionally catching someone with sudafed in their system.
posted by srboisvert at 8:54 AM on December 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
A comedy spy movie perhaps. The level of ineptitude on display from the cheaters is only matched by the ineptitude of those who are supposed to catch the cheaters and the venality of the people in charge.
Russia is really in trouble only for cheating so openly and egregiously. They need to be more sophisticated like the USPS, Team Sky or American football players so that international athletic associations can maintain the pretence of fair competition by occasionally catching someone with sudafed in their system.
posted by srboisvert at 8:54 AM on December 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Except that they aren't playing "as a team" except in a very loose sense of the word - most of the athletes are competing independently under a national banner.
They're being trained and doped as a team, though. That's why the whole country is being banned -- because these independently-competing athletes are part of a large-scale program of breaking the rules.
posted by Etrigan at 8:56 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
They're being trained and doped as a team, though. That's why the whole country is being banned -- because these independently-competing athletes are part of a large-scale program of breaking the rules.
posted by Etrigan at 8:56 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
I don't like how this devalues the medals in the upcoming Olympics, for the events where the Russians are strong. You are going to get great athletes taking the gold, which maybe they would have won anyway, but some people are going to say they only won because the Russians weren't there.
posted by w0mbat at 8:59 AM on December 10, 2019
posted by w0mbat at 8:59 AM on December 10, 2019
Or maybe the Russians are only strong because of the systemic cheating?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:02 AM on December 10, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:02 AM on December 10, 2019 [26 favorites]
At least Russia can still compete in the 2020 US Elections.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 9:09 AM on December 10, 2019 [75 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 9:09 AM on December 10, 2019 [75 favorites]
I don't like how this devalues the medals in the upcoming Olympics, for the events where the Russians are strong.
Maybe it revalues the medals.
But is it too late for the entire Russian hockey team to clean up, switch citizenship en masse, and win Nauru its first ice hockey medal?
posted by pracowity at 9:15 AM on December 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Maybe it revalues the medals.
But is it too late for the entire Russian hockey team to clean up, switch citizenship en masse, and win Nauru its first ice hockey medal?
posted by pracowity at 9:15 AM on December 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
I am more interested (personally and professionally) in the Paralympics this summer.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out there as most Paralympic sports don't have anyway for an athlete to represent a neutral flag. Sport Classification results in there being many more categories for athletes to compete in; there just isn't space for everyone eligible in every sportclass to compete. Case example: Olympic swimming has 13 individual events per gender, Paralympic swimming has 14 sportclass per gender and each of those sport classes has between 2 and 7 individual events on the programme this summer.
So long story short; athletes don't qualify for an event and countries can't just enter athletes in events willynilly. In the Olympic program countries (there are exceptions and wrinkles) can enter up to 2 swimmers per event. In the Paralympic program a countries maximum team size if determined before the games after which each country can fill their quota as they see fit - with the limit that they are not able to enter more than 3 athletes in a sportclass event.
Here's where it comes together; a slot for entry belongs to the country and the process for slot allocation is competitive. There is no way athletes are going to be able to use one without it being credited to a country (and against their total allocation). So at this juncture (assuming there isn't a successful petition before the end of the month) there doesn't appear to be any possible way for a Russian athlete to swim at the paralympics this September. Even if they had dual citizenship, could prove they were in the clear doping wise, the window of opportunity to change country-of-representation has closed.
posted by mce at 9:39 AM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
It will be interesting to see how this plays out there as most Paralympic sports don't have anyway for an athlete to represent a neutral flag. Sport Classification results in there being many more categories for athletes to compete in; there just isn't space for everyone eligible in every sportclass to compete. Case example: Olympic swimming has 13 individual events per gender, Paralympic swimming has 14 sportclass per gender and each of those sport classes has between 2 and 7 individual events on the programme this summer.
So long story short; athletes don't qualify for an event and countries can't just enter athletes in events willynilly. In the Olympic program countries (there are exceptions and wrinkles) can enter up to 2 swimmers per event. In the Paralympic program a countries maximum team size if determined before the games after which each country can fill their quota as they see fit - with the limit that they are not able to enter more than 3 athletes in a sportclass event.
Here's where it comes together; a slot for entry belongs to the country and the process for slot allocation is competitive. There is no way athletes are going to be able to use one without it being credited to a country (and against their total allocation). So at this juncture (assuming there isn't a successful petition before the end of the month) there doesn't appear to be any possible way for a Russian athlete to swim at the paralympics this September. Even if they had dual citizenship, could prove they were in the clear doping wise, the window of opportunity to change country-of-representation has closed.
posted by mce at 9:39 AM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Or do you think that Russian athletes should be punished purely based on their nationality?
The status quo of letting the Russian state get away with a slap on the wrist punishes (or rather, continues to punish) every other athlete from every other nation competing against Russia, who also do not dictate policy to the Russian state. Russia is using its athletes as human shields.
posted by hyperbolic at 9:48 AM on December 10, 2019 [16 favorites]
The status quo of letting the Russian state get away with a slap on the wrist punishes (or rather, continues to punish) every other athlete from every other nation competing against Russia, who also do not dictate policy to the Russian state. Russia is using its athletes as human shields.
posted by hyperbolic at 9:48 AM on December 10, 2019 [16 favorites]
One fun option would be to allow Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag if they can show they actively defied the doping program.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:51 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:51 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
But why isn't anyone talking about Ukrainian doping?!
posted by kevinbelt at 10:00 AM on December 10, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 10:00 AM on December 10, 2019 [10 favorites]
But why isn't anyone talking about Ukrainian doping?!
Oh god, wouldn't it be stupid if Trump started tweeting about how it was such a horrible injustice that the crooked globalists at the International (boo!) Olympic Committee wouldn't let Russians compete because of a bunch of fake news circumstantial hearsay? Which means he absolutely will do it. Oh god.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:05 AM on December 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Oh god, wouldn't it be stupid if Trump started tweeting about how it was such a horrible injustice that the crooked globalists at the International (boo!) Olympic Committee wouldn't let Russians compete because of a bunch of fake news circumstantial hearsay? Which means he absolutely will do it. Oh god.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:05 AM on December 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
You are going to get great athletes taking the gold, which maybe they would have won anyway, but some people are going to say they only won because the Russians weren't there.
As someone who ran track/cross country with two runners who got silver and 4th place in two different world track tournaments because of Russian runners who have been specially named (and given lifetime bans) in this latest iteration of the scandal, yeah, having the cheating Russians not there is entirely the point.
posted by sideshow at 11:05 AM on December 10, 2019 [18 favorites]
As someone who ran track/cross country with two runners who got silver and 4th place in two different world track tournaments because of Russian runners who have been specially named (and given lifetime bans) in this latest iteration of the scandal, yeah, having the cheating Russians not there is entirely the point.
posted by sideshow at 11:05 AM on December 10, 2019 [18 favorites]
As part of new anti-drug message, Moscow will now boycott Olympic games for U.S. failure to invade Afghanistan correctly.
posted by clavdivs at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
Oh god, wouldn't it be stupid if Trump started tweeting about how it was such a horrible injustice that the crooked globalists at the International (boo!) Olympic Committee wouldn't let Russians compete because of a bunch of fake news circumstantial hearsay?
You go outside right now and turn around three times and curse and spit
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:19 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
You go outside right now and turn around three times and curse and spit
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:19 AM on December 10, 2019 [15 favorites]
Except that they aren't playing "as a team" except in a very loose sense of the word - most of the athletes are competing independently under a national banner.
Given that the original comment was about the Russian hockey team competing under the Olympic banner, I think it's fair to say that these athletes, at least, are in fact considered a team.
In fact, it makes me wonder if the exception allowing athletes to compete under a neutral flag only applies to explicitly individual events, like most track and field events. But the wording of the BBC article implies this is probably not the case.
posted by chrominance at 2:02 PM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Given that the original comment was about the Russian hockey team competing under the Olympic banner, I think it's fair to say that these athletes, at least, are in fact considered a team.
In fact, it makes me wonder if the exception allowing athletes to compete under a neutral flag only applies to explicitly individual events, like most track and field events. But the wording of the BBC article implies this is probably not the case.
posted by chrominance at 2:02 PM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Perhaps non-banned athletes in team sports could be given special leeway to join other national teams? You'd have to put some sort of quota limits on it to prevent all the Russian athletes from joining a single team and forming another de facto Team Russia.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:13 PM on December 10, 2019
posted by Rock Steady at 2:13 PM on December 10, 2019
undercuts the humiliation WADA is trying to dish out, though.
They are not trying to dish out humiliation: Banning Russia's flag and anthem is perfect for WADA, whose only concern is optics.
The whole institution is breathtakingly corrupt (the olympics), tear the whole thing down I say.
posted by smoke at 3:25 PM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
They are not trying to dish out humiliation: Banning Russia's flag and anthem is perfect for WADA, whose only concern is optics.
The whole institution is breathtakingly corrupt (the olympics), tear the whole thing down I say.
posted by smoke at 3:25 PM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
OK but, bear with me here, what if, instead of tearing it all down we were to, say, burn it all down?!
Just spitballin' here...
posted by evilDoug at 4:10 PM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Just spitballin' here...
posted by evilDoug at 4:10 PM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Perhaps non-banned athletes in team sports could be given special leeway to join other national teams? You'd have to put some sort of quota limits on it to prevent all the Russian athletes from joining a single team and forming another de facto Team Russia.
"The Olympic Charter requires only that an athlete be a national of the country for which he or she is competing. If they want to compete for a different nation, it has to be three years after they last competed for their country of origin. " https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/08/why-some-olympians-compete-against-their-home-country/494648/
posted by srboisvert at 4:12 PM on December 10, 2019
"The Olympic Charter requires only that an athlete be a national of the country for which he or she is competing. If they want to compete for a different nation, it has to be three years after they last competed for their country of origin. " https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/08/why-some-olympians-compete-against-their-home-country/494648/
posted by srboisvert at 4:12 PM on December 10, 2019
That's why I said "special leeway"
posted by Rock Steady at 4:50 PM on December 10, 2019
posted by Rock Steady at 4:50 PM on December 10, 2019
I might be utterly wrong about the timeline in all of this, but I’ve had this weird feeling (and I know I’ve seen it talked about by others) that the ban WADA hit Russia with for doping a couple years back could be seen as part of the impetus for the explosion of Russian meddling with Brexit, the US election, and so on. That is was essentially Russia lashing out at being seen to be humiliated on a global scale, and that the Russia hacking was their response to it.
If that has any bearing in reality, any truth to it, how bad will things get this time? I’m not in any way saying Russia should be allowed to slide, and yeah, they’ve been caught doing ban-able shit, throw the book at them, but also, be ready for more of what went round the last time, I guess.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:05 PM on December 10, 2019
If that has any bearing in reality, any truth to it, how bad will things get this time? I’m not in any way saying Russia should be allowed to slide, and yeah, they’ve been caught doing ban-able shit, throw the book at them, but also, be ready for more of what went round the last time, I guess.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:05 PM on December 10, 2019
No, Putin did not decide to begin a decades-long campaign of kleptocracy and empire-building from the earliest days of his first presidential term in 2000 because he thought some day his national team would be humiliated by a widespread doping program that he directed the implementation and expansion of.
posted by Etrigan at 5:11 PM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 5:11 PM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
How the World Anti-Doping Agency Betrays Honest Athletes: When the highest authority on cheating is compromised, what happens to athletes who play by the rules?
The Canmore Nordic Centre, 100 kilometres west of Calgary, was the site of the cross-country and biathlon events during the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, and it remains the base for both Canadian national teams. It’s also where Beckie Scott is based: she skis there and lives just down the hill with her husband and their two young children. Scott was the first Canadian to earn an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, winning gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games—though it took two years of investigations and uncertainty before the two Russians who crossed the line ahead of her were stripped of their medals for doping.
[...]
Since 2016, Scott has become an increasingly vocal critic of WADA and the IOC as they sought to appease Russia, primarily by watering down the criteria for the country’s reentry into the international sporting community. This criticism did not go over well with the bureaucrats in either organization, and WADA members condemned Scott in ways that she has called bullying and that a recent report commissioned by the organization itself conceded “could be viewed as aggressive, harsh, or disrespectful.”
Scott’s tribulations demonstrate that fault for the crisis polarizing the anti-doping community rests just as much with those who don’t play fair as with those dedicated to upholding fair play—bodies such as WADA, which was created expressly to bring a unified voice to the fight against chemical cheating in sport.
Flash forward to 2018...
The full implications of that substitution [of the Schmid report for the McLaren report] wouldn’t become evident until September 20, 2018, at a meeting in Seychelles, when WADA debated reinstating RUSADA. The problem was that Russia had now accepted the Schmid report but had yet to meet the other important criterion laid out in the Roadmap: access to the lab. According to the minutes of that meeting, Beckie Scott said that she had heard from athletes around the world and that they had spoken, almost as if with one voice: deny Russia reinstatement. “I urge you to make a decision based on who your constituents are, who you are serving and who you are accountable to,” she said, “because I do believe this is a defining moment for WADA.”
Her message was ignored. The meeting became even more heated when Scott expressed frustration at how the WADA Athlete Committee, created to champion clean athletes, was under constant scrutiny from the IOC, which, at every turn, seemed to impede the committee’s aims. Some members called her integrity into question, suggesting she was grandstanding for her own issues. Her attitude was called “victimistic,” and she was told that athletes, while playing an important role, needed to know “their place.” Ultimately, the CRC disregarded her counsel—according to Scott she was actually laughed at—and recommended reinstatement for RUSADA on the condition that Russia allow WADA access to the Moscow lab by the end of 2018. The executive swiftly ratified it. WADA released a statement later that day announcing the decision, though its executive likely sensed how the reinstatement would be received. In the press release, Reedie wrote, “WADA understands that this decision will not please everybody.”
Dick Pound comes up in the article, and while, as the former head of WADA he deserves credit for a number of things including calling out Lance Armstrong early, he spent a lot of time in the media around the Salt Lake Games mansplaining that Beckie Scott was "on a rant" when she was pointing out uncomfortable truths about doping in her own sport.
Russia is really in trouble only for cheating so openly and egregiously. They need to be more sophisticated like the USPS, Team Sky or American football players so that international athletic associations can maintain the pretence of fair competition by occasionally catching someone with sudafed in their system.
Don't forget the USOC, which deftly shielded confirmed doper Carl Lewis while his main competitor, Ben Johnson, got nailed (rightfully so, mind you; c.f. the Dubin Inquiry).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:20 PM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
The Canmore Nordic Centre, 100 kilometres west of Calgary, was the site of the cross-country and biathlon events during the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, and it remains the base for both Canadian national teams. It’s also where Beckie Scott is based: she skis there and lives just down the hill with her husband and their two young children. Scott was the first Canadian to earn an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, winning gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games—though it took two years of investigations and uncertainty before the two Russians who crossed the line ahead of her were stripped of their medals for doping.
[...]
Since 2016, Scott has become an increasingly vocal critic of WADA and the IOC as they sought to appease Russia, primarily by watering down the criteria for the country’s reentry into the international sporting community. This criticism did not go over well with the bureaucrats in either organization, and WADA members condemned Scott in ways that she has called bullying and that a recent report commissioned by the organization itself conceded “could be viewed as aggressive, harsh, or disrespectful.”
Scott’s tribulations demonstrate that fault for the crisis polarizing the anti-doping community rests just as much with those who don’t play fair as with those dedicated to upholding fair play—bodies such as WADA, which was created expressly to bring a unified voice to the fight against chemical cheating in sport.
Flash forward to 2018...
The full implications of that substitution [of the Schmid report for the McLaren report] wouldn’t become evident until September 20, 2018, at a meeting in Seychelles, when WADA debated reinstating RUSADA. The problem was that Russia had now accepted the Schmid report but had yet to meet the other important criterion laid out in the Roadmap: access to the lab. According to the minutes of that meeting, Beckie Scott said that she had heard from athletes around the world and that they had spoken, almost as if with one voice: deny Russia reinstatement. “I urge you to make a decision based on who your constituents are, who you are serving and who you are accountable to,” she said, “because I do believe this is a defining moment for WADA.”
Her message was ignored. The meeting became even more heated when Scott expressed frustration at how the WADA Athlete Committee, created to champion clean athletes, was under constant scrutiny from the IOC, which, at every turn, seemed to impede the committee’s aims. Some members called her integrity into question, suggesting she was grandstanding for her own issues. Her attitude was called “victimistic,” and she was told that athletes, while playing an important role, needed to know “their place.” Ultimately, the CRC disregarded her counsel—according to Scott she was actually laughed at—and recommended reinstatement for RUSADA on the condition that Russia allow WADA access to the Moscow lab by the end of 2018. The executive swiftly ratified it. WADA released a statement later that day announcing the decision, though its executive likely sensed how the reinstatement would be received. In the press release, Reedie wrote, “WADA understands that this decision will not please everybody.”
Dick Pound comes up in the article, and while, as the former head of WADA he deserves credit for a number of things including calling out Lance Armstrong early, he spent a lot of time in the media around the Salt Lake Games mansplaining that Beckie Scott was "on a rant" when she was pointing out uncomfortable truths about doping in her own sport.
Russia is really in trouble only for cheating so openly and egregiously. They need to be more sophisticated like the USPS, Team Sky or American football players so that international athletic associations can maintain the pretence of fair competition by occasionally catching someone with sudafed in their system.
Don't forget the USOC, which deftly shielded confirmed doper Carl Lewis while his main competitor, Ben Johnson, got nailed (rightfully so, mind you; c.f. the Dubin Inquiry).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:20 PM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
It should be noted Russia is banned from "international" competition, they will still be allowed to compete in the 2020 Euros.
posted by PenDevil at 11:48 PM on December 10, 2019
posted by PenDevil at 11:48 PM on December 10, 2019
Despite wanting to not like them because they ousted my teams, they played with so much heart that you couldn't help but cheer for them.
That's the total opposite of my logic when my team loses. I want the team that beat us to go all the way so that at least our loss wasn't for nothing. Like it makes our loss a little easier if it was against an unbeatable team.
posted by LizBoBiz at 2:00 AM on December 11, 2019
That's the total opposite of my logic when my team loses. I want the team that beat us to go all the way so that at least our loss wasn't for nothing. Like it makes our loss a little easier if it was against an unbeatable team.
posted by LizBoBiz at 2:00 AM on December 11, 2019
I wonder how much this will cost Krusty the Clown
posted by an octopus IRL at 6:01 AM on December 11, 2019
posted by an octopus IRL at 6:01 AM on December 11, 2019
I wonder if this will mean anything for the next Creed (Rocky) movie.
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:33 AM on December 11, 2019
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:33 AM on December 11, 2019
It should be noted Russia is banned from "international" competition, they will still be allowed to compete in the 2020 Euros.
Wow, UEFA really telling on themselves by being fine not being considered a "major event organization" covered by WADA.
The depths of this bullshit are . . . deep.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:57 AM on December 11, 2019
Wow, UEFA really telling on themselves by being fine not being considered a "major event organization" covered by WADA.
The depths of this bullshit are . . . deep.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:57 AM on December 11, 2019
The depths of this bullshit are . . . deep.
British Paralympian Victoria Aggar would seem to fully agree:
The World Anti-Doping Agency has been rocked by the resignation of Victoria Aggar, a highly respected member of its own Athlete Committee, who said she quit after Wada broke its promises and failed to protect clean athletes.
The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that Aggar, a retired British Paralympian who has served six years on the committee, was on the brink of going because of Wada’s “spineless and appalling” decision not to issue a blanket ban on Russia.
Echoing the views of many athletes, she also argued that allowing Russians to compete at Euro 2020 – and under a neutral flag at the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup despite a four-year ban imposed on Monday – made a mockery of the system.
But in her written resignation letter Aggar went further still – revealing that Wada had suppressed the voices of its Athlete Committee, which is supposed to reflect the views of thousands of sportsmen and women on anti-doping matters.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:31 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
British Paralympian Victoria Aggar would seem to fully agree:
The World Anti-Doping Agency has been rocked by the resignation of Victoria Aggar, a highly respected member of its own Athlete Committee, who said she quit after Wada broke its promises and failed to protect clean athletes.
The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that Aggar, a retired British Paralympian who has served six years on the committee, was on the brink of going because of Wada’s “spineless and appalling” decision not to issue a blanket ban on Russia.
Echoing the views of many athletes, she also argued that allowing Russians to compete at Euro 2020 – and under a neutral flag at the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup despite a four-year ban imposed on Monday – made a mockery of the system.
But in her written resignation letter Aggar went further still – revealing that Wada had suppressed the voices of its Athlete Committee, which is supposed to reflect the views of thousands of sportsmen and women on anti-doping matters.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:31 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
« Older 14 feared dead in New Zealand volcano eruption | “when you ... take a 50,000 ft view of it, it kind... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
So, just like last time?
Link to a reuters story about how fans and players of the "Olympic athletes from russia"s hockey team drowned out the olympic anthem with their own, banned, one.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:20 AM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]