Bartelby
Bionic Poster
The reality is, as I've said all along, that most of the accusations of Russian doping can't and won't stand up in a properly-convened court and so it proves:
The International Olympic Committee has reacted with dismay after 28 Russian athletes had their lifetime bans from the Olympics dramatically overturned by the court of arbitration for sport and warned that the ruling could have serious consequences for the fight against doping.
As Russia’s sports ministry celebrated the decision, saying that “justice had finally triumphed”, the IOC was bracing itself for a fresh legal challenge from some of the athletes who now want to compete in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang which begin next Friday.
Cas’s ruling also means the 28 will have their results reinstated from the 2014 Winter Olympics, returning Russia to the top of the medal table. They include the skeleton medallists Alexander Tretyakov and Elena Nikitina, who have already indicated they want to compete in Pyeongchang.
Aleksandra Brilliantova, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) legal department, indicated an appeal to the IOC is imminent. “We were counting on a fair Cas decision and are very pleased that it turned out to be so,” she said. “We will now send an appeal to the IOC with a request to consider the issue of inviting those athletes in respect of which there is a positive Cas decision.”
The ROC remains suspended from Pyeongchang because of state-sponsored doping in Sochi. However, as things stand, around 160 Russians have been granted permission to compete as “neutral” athletes under the banner of Olympic Athlete from Russia after being cleared of doping by an IOC anti-doping panel.
That figure could yet rise, although for now the IOC is insisting it will not automatically allow any of the Russians cleared by Cas late entry into the Games. “The result of the Cas decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited,” it said in a statement. “Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation.”
The International Olympic Committee has reacted with dismay after 28 Russian athletes had their lifetime bans from the Olympics dramatically overturned by the court of arbitration for sport and warned that the ruling could have serious consequences for the fight against doping.
As Russia’s sports ministry celebrated the decision, saying that “justice had finally triumphed”, the IOC was bracing itself for a fresh legal challenge from some of the athletes who now want to compete in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang which begin next Friday.
Cas’s ruling also means the 28 will have their results reinstated from the 2014 Winter Olympics, returning Russia to the top of the medal table. They include the skeleton medallists Alexander Tretyakov and Elena Nikitina, who have already indicated they want to compete in Pyeongchang.
Aleksandra Brilliantova, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) legal department, indicated an appeal to the IOC is imminent. “We were counting on a fair Cas decision and are very pleased that it turned out to be so,” she said. “We will now send an appeal to the IOC with a request to consider the issue of inviting those athletes in respect of which there is a positive Cas decision.”
The ROC remains suspended from Pyeongchang because of state-sponsored doping in Sochi. However, as things stand, around 160 Russians have been granted permission to compete as “neutral” athletes under the banner of Olympic Athlete from Russia after being cleared of doping by an IOC anti-doping panel.
That figure could yet rise, although for now the IOC is insisting it will not automatically allow any of the Russians cleared by Cas late entry into the Games. “The result of the Cas decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited,” it said in a statement. “Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation.”
