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SPORTS Friday 10 November 2017

Column: Russia should have no place in upcoming Olympics

By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Columnist
There’s a new series on the
Olympic Channel called
“Foul Play,” though unfor-
tunately it doesn’t address
what is really foul about the
modern Olympic move-
ment. For that, there’s no
reason to look to the past.
There’s plenty of foul play
on display as the count-
down begins to the Win-
ter Olympics in February in
South Korea. Just this week
the International Olympic
Committee suspended
Namibia’s Frank Fredericks
as a member after he was
charged in a French investi-
gation of suspected bribery
in the 2016 Olympic host
city vote. The former Olym-
pian allegedly accepted
a $300,000 payment eight
years ago on the day Rio de
Janeiro was chosen as the
host. No surprise there, be-
cause the Olympic city se- In this Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014 ile photo, second placed Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva, left, winner Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, center,
and third placed Russia’s Yulia Ivanova pose for photographers after the women’s Cross Country skiing 10km Mass Start Classic
lections have long been an World Cup event in Szklarska Poreba, Poland.
exercise in corruption and Four more Russian cross-country skiers have been found guilty of doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, it was announced on
vote buying. Not just for Rio, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. The Russian Cross-Country Ski Federation says the four have been disqualiied by the International Olympic
but for Salt Lake City in 2002 Committee and banned from all future Olympics. The other three skiers found guilty are Alexei Petukhov, Yulia Ivanova and Evgenia
and assorted Olympics be- Shapovalova. Vylegzhanin won three silver medals in Sochi, but none of the others won a medal.
fore and in between. But Associated Press
what’s really foul is the way before the 2014 Games. the individual sports feder- Korea. Indeed, there’s ev- Putin said the dependency
Olympic oficials have re- Not so commendable is ations to determine wheth- ery reason to suspect just of the Olympic movement
sponded to the state spon- how the IOC is dealing with er Russian athletes were eli- the opposite as Russia tries on U.S. television money
sored doping scheme that the Russians themselves. gible to compete. to replicate its place on top has created “relationships
Russia employed to top the Less than 100 days before The truth is, Russia should of the medal standings in and dependencies” be-
medal standings four years the Games begin in Py- have been banned then, the upcoming Games. tween international sports
ago in Sochi. On Thursday, eongchang, there has still and it should be banned Any other country, it’s an organizations that unfairly
four Russian cross-country been no decision on what now. The country still refus- easy call. But IOC leader target Russia. That’s ab-
skiers were found guilty to do with the Russian team es to turn over stored urine Thomas Bach seems deter- surd, of course. Though U.S.
by an IOC commission of scheduled to attend. Olym- samples from a Moscow mined not to antagonize TV money does wield out-
doping in Sochi, includ- pic oficials are expected laboratory, as demanded Russia too much, despite sized inluence, McLaren’s
ing silver medalist Maxim to consider some sort of by anti-doping authorities. its documented misdeeds. report provides damning
Vylegzhanin. That brought punishment when the IOC It still refuses to accept the This is a country, after all, evidence — and plenty of
to six the number of Russian executive board meets on indings of a World Anti- that spent untold billions on it — that Russia systemati-
athletes disqualiied by the Dec. 5, though any sanc- Doping Agency investi- behalf of the IOC to pres- cally engaged in a doping
IOC, with at least 20 cases tions are expected to fall gation led by Canadian ent the Sochi Olympics to scheme to help its athletes
remaining to be judged. well short of the outright lawyer Richard McLaren, the world. win medals and cover up
That the IOC is inally deal- Russian ban sought by a who found that 1,000 Rus- Russian President Vladimir their doping at the same
ing out some punishment number of doping watch- sian athletes in 30 sports Putin — who was the face time. Despite that, the Rus-
is commendable, at least dogs, including the U.S. An- would have been involved of the Sochi Olympics — sians will almost surely be in
in some fashion. The So- ti-Doping Agency. in doping cover-ups from suggested Thursday that Pyeongchang.
chi Olympics will forever If it seems familiar, it is. The 2011 to 2015. the recent doping allega- And every athlete com-
be tainted by a Russian same kind of situation that There’s no way to really tions could be part of an peting against them will
scheme to switch out urine played out before the know if Russian athletes will American attempt to in- have to wonder just how
samples, and for other dop- Olympics last year in Rio, compete clean and on a terfere in next year’s Rus- level the playing ield in this
ing schemes run in the years where oficials left it up to level playing ield in South sian presidential election. Olympics will be.q