Welp, there it is: members of Russia‘s track and field department have been barred from the Rio Olympics by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, after the nation’s team mounted an unsuccessful appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations‘ June ruling against them.
It’s the latest in a long line of upsets for the Russian squad, stemming from the discovery of systematic, state-sponsored doping within its ranks.
A total of 68 athletes from a multitude of disciplines – and the Russian Olympic Committee itself – had sought to overturn the IAAF’s ruling.
Speaking to the media, a representative of CAS explained those athletes will remain “ineligible for competition held under IAAF rules, including the Olympic Games.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport rules 68 Russian track and field athletes out of the #Rio2016 Olympic Games https://t.co/h67FlG4Rco
— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) July 21, 2016
Previously, the World Anti-Doping Agency petitioned the International Olympic Committee to ban all Russian athletes from competing – even ones who had nought to do with the ill-fated track and field program.
There are some notable exceptions to the ban, though: despite the top-to-bottom nature of the regime’s cheating, certain athletes who “satisfy specific criteria” may be allowed to compete.
800m runner Yulia Stepanova, who acted as a whistleblower, has already been cleared to compete under a “neutral” flag.
Good for her, then. Hopefully this whole mess means we don’t have another Jared Tallent situation on our hands any time soon.
Source: ABC / CNN / BBC / The Guardian.
Photo: Stu Forster / Getty.
