Russia Banned From Rio 2016 Olympics Due To State-Sponsored Doping Program

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Well, to King's credit, she was going after individuals, not countries. She was just as critical of Justin Gatlin as she was of Efimova.

She is 19, I want to see how vocal she is at 23 or 27 when she is staring at the needle in her ass. I would bet that her chances of medaling at the age of 27 are slim to none without some kind of assistance. To be young and naive.

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Russian Women's 4x100 Meter Relay Team Retroactively Stripped of 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medal for Steroids

The targeting of Russian athletes, political and otherwise, by anti-doping authorities continues as the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro come to a close this week. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the Russian women's 4x100 meter relay team has been retroactively stripped of its 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal after retesting uncovered traces of anabolic steroids in one of the team members stored urine samples.

Yulia Chermoshanskaya tested positive for the anabolic steroids stanozolol and chlorodehydromethyltestosterone during the most recent wave of IOC retesting. The two steroids are most commonly known by their trade names – Winstrol and Oral Turinabol.

Chermoshanskaya was disqualified from an 8th place finish in the women's 200-meter and the 4x100 meter relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her disqualification also extends to all other members of the 4x100 relay thereby disqualifying her teammates Yulia Gushchina, Alexandra Fedoriva and Evgeniya Polyakova as well. The gold medals will retroactively be awarded to the Belgium team of Olivia Borlee, Hanna Marien, Elodie Ouedraogo and Kim Gevaert.

Chermoshankskay told IOC officials that she was advised by the Russian team doctor to use the two anabolic steroids to help her rehabilitate from an injury she suffered before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, Winstrol and Oral Turinabol have no recognized medical indication for facilitating muscular or soft tissue recovery. Yet both drugs have a long history of use for sports doping in international competition.

Winstrol first gained notoriety in the mainstream media when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for the steroid at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Johnson defeated his nemesis American Carl Lewis in the 100-meters to win the gold medal and set a new world record of 9.79. His Olympic medals were rescinded and his world record time voided due to his doping disqualification. Many athletes have since tested positive for Winstrol.

Oral Turinabol is the infamous steroid developed in East Germany specifically for the country's elite and Olympic athletes. It was widely administered as far back as the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Turinabol use was systematically administered as part of the East Germany state-sponsored doping program for over two decades.

This year, the IOC has retested over 1000 samples from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics with an almost 10 percent positive rate. Ninety-eight athletes have been caught with prohibited performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the reanalysis. The reanalysis was done on a targeted basis. This most likely resulted in some countries (Russia) being flagged more frequently than others. The IOC acknowledged that it specifically targeted athletes who were still competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The steroid positive is unlikely to be the last one from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. It is almost certain that additional athletes will be named as the IOC concludes its third and fourth wave of reanalysis.

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Rio Paralympics 2016: Russian doping ban 'cynical', says PM

Russia has reacted with fury after a court upheld a ban on its athletes competing in next month's Paralympics.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the ban, levelled over allegations of doping, a "cynical decision".

On Tuesday the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) decision to ban all Russian competitors.

The IPC made the decision after the McLaren report detailed a Russian state-sponsored doping programme.

"Banning our Paralympic athletes from Rio 2016 is a cynical decision motivated by a desire to remove strong rivals," Mr Medvedev said.

Andrei Strokin, the Secretary General of the Russian Paralympic Committee, said that the mood of the athletes was low, "because often for a disabled person it is the only chance of self-realisation and achieving something in life".

Roman Petushkov, a six-time Russian Paralympic champion, called the decision "inhumane" and a "humiliation".

Long-jumper Vadim Alyoshkin said athletes were "pawns in a big game we have nothing to do with".

But Karen Pickering, a four-time British Olympic athlete and four-time world champion, praised the decision.

"There is a real appetite right now amongst athletes that we don't want any former drug cheats in the Olympic Games," she said.

Craig Spence from the IPC said the body had "great sympathy" with the Russian athletes but said the decision was prompted by evidence of a state-sponsored doping system.

The Russian Paralympic Committee did not file any evidence contradicting the facts put forward by the IPC.

Paralympic v Olympics

The IPC's decision is in contrast to that of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which chose not to hand Russia a blanket ban from the Olympic Games.

The IOC was widely criticised for ignoring the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) recommendation to ban Russia.

Instead, each individual sporting federation was given the power to decide if Russian competitors were allowed to compete. A three-person IOC panel then had the final say.

In the end, more than 270 Russian athletes were cleared to compete at the Olympics, with Russia winning 56 medals in total and finishing in fourth place in the medal table.

Russia had been set to take 267 competitors across 18 sports to the Paralympics. The Cas statement added that it had not looked at the "natural justice rights or personality rights" of individual Russian athletes in making its decision.

Russia's Paralympic team's lawyer, Alexei Karpenko, said they would try to file an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, but it would take between one and two years for the court to consider the case.

"So I'm afraid Russian Paralympians will not be going to the Games in any case," Mr Karpenko added.

IPC 'hopes this decision acts as a catalyst for change in Russia'

IPC president Sir Philip Craven, who has described Russia's anti-doping system as "broken, corrupted and entirely compromised", and claimed it put "medals over morals", said he was "greatly encouraged" by the Cas decision.

He said it was "not a day for celebration", adding: "We have enormous sympathy for the Russian athletes who will now miss out."

"It is a sad day for the Paralympic movement," said Craven. "But we hope also a new beginning. We hope this decision acts as a catalyst for change in Russia and we can welcome the Russian Paralympic Committee back as a member safe in the knowledge that it is fulfilling its obligations to ensure fair competition for all."

Why was Russia banned?

Richard McLaren, a Canadian law professor, published a Wada independent report that found Russia's sports ministry manipulated urine samples provided by its athletes between 2011 and 2015.

The report identified 27 samples relating to eight Para-sports, five of which are summer sports, including some governed by the IPC.

The IPC also found evidence that samples were swapped during the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games, adding that it planned to reanalyse every Russian sample given at the event.

Paralympics going ahead despite major cuts

The Paralympics are going ahead as planned, but face major budget cuts as Rio's organising committee has not raised enough to fund the event because of Brazil's struggling economy and poor ticket sales.

Cuts will affect venues, workforce and transport. Delayed travel grants will now be paid to athletes, but 10 countries may struggle to get teams to Rio.

Rio Paralympics 2016: Russian doping ban 'cynical', says PM - BBC News

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WADA Report on State-Sponsored Doping in Russia was Fundamentally Unfair and Lacked Basic Due Process

Ron Katz, the Senior Counsel in the Entertainment, Sports & Media Litigation Practice Group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, has ripped the WADA Independent Commission Report on state-sponsored in Russia as fundamentally unfair and lacking basic due process. Katz outlined his criticisms in a Forbes column entitled “Russian Complaints About McLaren Report on Alleged State-Sponsored Doping Have Merit” published on August 30, 2016.

“The Russian Sports Minister recently claimed that the so-called McLaren report, which provided the basis for the banning of Russian athletes from the Olympics and Paralympics, would not stand up to legal criticism,” wrote Katz. “Using as an example the U.S. legal system, in which I have worked for 45 years, I agree. The McLaren report, formally called The Independent Person Report (IPR), lacks the basic due process required in the U.S. Court system.”

Katz backed up Russian criticisms of the report. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was outraged by WADA's recommendations to issue a blanket ban on all Russian athletes from participating at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janiero. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to follow such unfair recommendations while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) regrettably agreed to the recommendations.

Katz criticized the WADA “McLaren Independent Investigations Report into Sochi Allegations” on several fronts. First, it was not a truly independent report spearheaded by a neutral party. Professor Richard McLaren was supposedly the “Independent Person” who would remain neutral when investigating the allegations. However, he “was previously a member of WADA’s three-person Independent Commission…which exposed widespread doping in Russian Athletics.” It would be extremely difficult for McLaren to remain neutral after he had already investigated the very same issue and reached a conclusion.

Secondly, fairness and credibility require that the accused retain the right to confront witnesses who have testified against him or her. The McLaren Report failed to identify most of the witnesses. In addition, the McLaren Report relied on a single witness (Gregory Rodchenkov) as the primary source for most of the information that served as the basis for the report conclusions.

McLaren assumed Rodchenkov was credible and trustworthy without considering other motives and agendas he may have had. Furthermore, Rodchenkov was not subjected to cross-examination. All of these factors are crucial to due process in U.S. court systems.

Third, the McLaren Report failed to consider all of the evidence. It admitted that it “only skimmed the surface of the extensive data available”. McLaren neglected to even attempt to interview anyone – government officials, coaches, or athletes – who lived in Russia.

Katz considered the lack of basic due process in the McLaren Report to be appalling. As such, the McLaren Report was fundamentally unfair and unjust to the athletes it targeted.

“Due process is not an empty phrase. Without it, there cannot be justice. Surely it should be required before a major sporting nation’s athletes are banned from the Olympics and Paralympics.

“The damage is not just academic. Aside from the possibility that innocent athletes may have been punished, there may well be disruption in international athletics similar to 1980 when the U.S. did not participate in the Olympics and 1984 when the Soviet Union did not participate. If that is the case, it will be a loss for all athletes and their fans.”

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