World Anti-Doping Agency: Russia Should be Banned from the 2016 Olympics

[alnorth]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/34765444

http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackand...field-athletes

After a long investigation, WADA just released a shocking report today accusing the Russian Federation of running a huge state-sponsored doping scheme, including helping their athletes avoid detection in drug testing. They named 10 Russian athletes and coaches who should be banned for life, and given how corrupt Russia apparently is and the little amount of time remaining to the next olympic games, they also recommend that the IOC ban Russia from competing in Rio. (Not sure if the recommendation is just Russia's track and field team, or all of their athletes)

The IOC is not obligated to agree to the recommendation, but there's pressure all over the world on the IOC to hammer Russia.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

We have no moral high ground here.

Wouldn't appear so.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...172707806.html

Documents purporting to show that a number of American athletes, including Carl Lewis, were allowed to compete in the Olympics after failing drug tests prove suspicions of US drug cover-ups, says the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Dr Wade Exum, the former USOC director for drug control from 1991 to 2000, released more than 30,000 pages of documents to Sports Illustrated and the Orange County Register.

He said they showed that athletes such as Lewis and Mary Joe Fernandez tested positive but were allowed by the US Olympic Committee to compete anyway.

WADA head Dick Pound said the documents reinforced what some critics believed all along. "It's what many people suspected about the US Olympic Committee, that it was being covered up," he said in a telephone interview from Montreal on Wednesday. "There were lots of rumours around."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...172709693.html

Olympic legend Carl Lewis is among more than 100 American athletes involved in a cover-up of drug use, documents reveal.

Lewis and two of his training partners all took the same three types of banned stimulants and were caught at the 1988 US Olympic trials, according to the documents released by a disgruntled former senior US anti-doping official, Dr Wade Exum.

But on appeal to their national Olympic committee, all were cleared of inadvertent doping. Two months later, at the Seoul Olympics, Lewis finished second in the 100 metres sprint. But when Canadian Ben Johnson failed his Olympic drug test, Lewis was awarded the 100m gold.

Lewis also won the Olympic long jump - as part of his career tally of nine Olympic gold medals - and his training partner, Joe De Loach, won the 200m in Seoul.

Lewis's lawyer, Martin Singer, has responded to the revelations by saying his client had taken only a herbal remedy.

"Carl did nothing wrong," Mr Singer told The Orange County Register. "There was never intent."

The latest documents show Lewis tested positive for the banned stimulants found in cold medications: pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine.

The World Anti-Doping Agency's chairman, Dick Pound, dismissed the "no intent" defence. Mr Pound has seen copies of the documents and said that in some instances there was almost "automatic forgiveness" by the US officials.

Letters written by a US Olympic Committee executive, Baaron Pittenger, were sent advising some athletes of their positive drug-test results - and at the same time told them they were being cleared.

"It's got to be pretty embarrassing to the USOC," said Mr Pound, "to have their secretary-general writing in the letter, where he advises an athlete of a positive A sample, 'I have to send you this, but we already decided this was inadvertent.' That whole process turned into a joke."

[Bwana]

Heh any of you remember the ladies east German swim team back in the day?

[BlackHelicopters]

The sky is blue.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Wouldn't appear so.

Oh, bullshit. That was a very long time ago, where feelings about doping was far different than it is today, testing was ineffective and caught only the stupid, and cheating was widespread around the world. That level of ambivalence and acceptance simply does not exist anymore.

What Russia is accused of doing in this report is truly bizarre and beyond the pale in the context of how the world feels about doping in 2015.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Every country has dopers in athletics. Some countries just feign to give more of a shit about that fact than others.

Russia paid the former head of the IAAF bribes totalling over $1MM to suppress positive tests from Russian athletes.

You can't look at a state-run doping and test evasion program, and wave your hands and go "bah, every country has cheaters". In the world of doping, what they are accused of doing is not remotely close to being comparable to other nations.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Oh, bullshit. That was a very long time ago, where feelings about doping was far different than it is today, testing was ineffective and caught only the stupid, and cheating was widespread around the world. That level of ambivalence and acceptance simply does not exist anymore.

What Russia is accused of doing in this report is truly bizarre and beyond the pale in the context of how the world feels about doping in 2015.

Always interesting to know that this kind of naivety still exists about the business of athletics.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Russia paid the former head of the IAAF bribes totalling over $1MM to suppress positive tests from Russian athletes.

You can't look at a state-run doping and test evasion program, and wave your hands and go "bah, every country has cheaters". In the world of doping, what they are accused of doing is not remotely close to being comparable to other nations.

You think the IAAF is only taking bribes from the Russians?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Always interesting to know that this kind of naivety still exists about the business of athletics.

We freaking created USADA as a direct result of the problems we had before 2000. USADA is independent, took down Armstrong when the rest of the world moved on and was going to let us have his legacy (even drawing criticism from US politicians angry that USADA was taking down our own cycling legend), and is basically beyond reproach.

To claim that we are no different from the Russians, or are not in a position to criticize, is just flatly ignorant.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

We freaking created USADA as a direct result of the problems we had before 2000. USADA is independent, took down Armstrong when the rest of the world moved on and was going to let us have his legacy, and is basically beyond reproach.

To claim that we are no different from the Russians, or are not in a position to criticize, is just flatly ignorant.

I'm sure it's nice to think so.

[BigRichard]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Heh any of you remember the ladies east German swim team back in the day?

Would not

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

You think the IAAF is only taking bribes from the Russians?

You acting like this is really no big deal is silly. I've never even heard of a nation trying to pay a bribe to avoid positive results. Russia very well may be banned from the next olympics over this, which proves that your perception of this story is wrong.

I don't know if some other weird country was also bribing that corrupt official, but its not some common accepted practice.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

I'm sure it's nice to think so.

Fine, you are entitled to your silly opinion on this issue. You are unwilling to consider any facts that contradict the "everyone does it, what Russia is doing isn't weird" narrative that you prefer.

The year is not 1998, and a lot has changed from the time you apparently stopped paying attention to olympic sports.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

You acting like this is really no big deal is silly. I've never even heard of a nation trying to pay a bribe to avoid positive results. Russia very well may be banned from the next olympics over this, which proves that your perception of this story is wrong.

I don't know if some other weird country was also bribing that corrupt official, but its not some common accepted practice.

It certainly proves Russia got caught doing it, not that they were the only ones.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Fine, you are entitled to your silly opinion on this issue. You are unwilling to consider any facts that contradict the "everyone does it, what Russia is doing isn't weird" narrative that you prefer.

The year is not 1998, and a lot has changed from the time you apparently stopped paying attention to olympic sports.

Whatever makes you feel better about this incredibly corrupt industry.

[Halfcan]

They should check the Cheating Donks out in Denver-those guys are so juiced up they are having "roid rage" out on the field.