Rio Olympics 2016: IAAF makes call on Russian track and field ban

AUSTRALIA’s Jared Tallent has praised the IAAF decision to maintain a ban on Russian athletes competing in Rio, while Vladimir Putin has condemned the ruling.

Track and field's world governing body is set to decide whether to uphold or lift its ban on Russian athletes ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Picture: AP

IN AN extraordinary decision the world track and field body, IAAF, has banned Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympic Games - but not all.

Wary of legal ramifications of a complete ban and the forewarning by one of Russian’s top athletes, the pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva that she would contest any blanket disqualification in the courts on the basis of human rights, the IAAF council adopted a two-prong approach. Russian athletes are banned from the Games yet they also passed a specific rule to allow “a small crack in the door” for some who satisfy drug testing criteria.

President Vladimir Putin condemned the decision as “unfair”.

“Of course it’s unfair,” he told journalists. “I’m assuming that we’ll have a discussion with our colleagues in the world anti-doping agency and I hope a reaction from the International Olympic Committee.”

ROBERT CRADDOCK: Russia got what it deserved

“Responsibility must always be individual and those who have no connection with these violations should not suffer.

“We ourselves are outraged when we’re faced with doping problems, and we work to ensure that those guilty are punished. But the clean athletes, as they say, why should they suffer? I really don’t understand.

Russia’s minister for Sport Vitaly Mutko issued a statement saying he was disappointed and would now appeal directly to the International Olympic Committee to “consider the impact the athletes exclusion would have on their dreams and the people of Russia and also how it will diminish the Olympics”.

Yulia Stepanova, competing under her maiden name of Rusanova.

He stressed Russian athletes had been subjected to at least three drug tests each from the UK anti doping agency in recent months.

This argument, coupled with the IAAF fudge, may yet result in a number of Russian athletes being allowed to compete in Rio.

However any politically expedient decision by the IOC, which meets in Lausanne on Tuesday, to rescue its flagship sport for television broadcasters and sponsors and ameliorate its relationship with Russia may meet unexpected resistance.

The Russian and the Olympic flags wave during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Picture: AP

IOC vice president and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates described Russia “as rotten to the core” when he presented walker Jared Tallent with his London Olympic gold medal in Melbourne on Friday.

The World Anti Doping Agency also released scathing report on Russia where athletes missed more than 700 drug tests and that they regularly trained, or claimed to live on military bases where the testers are unable to access.

IAAF president Seb Coe said it was unambiguous that Russian athletes will not compete in the Rio Olympics under the Russian flag.

“The fundamental proposition is that the Russian federation remains suspended, and the rule change looks at those outside of that system to potentially return to international competition once reviewed by the doping review board,” Coe explained. “This is a sad day for our sport, what ever decision was made. There is a humanity here that tells you very simply this was not an easy decision or lightly taken.”

Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia fails to clear the bar. Picture: Supplied

Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia plans to sue over the Rio Olympics ban. Picture: Supplied

The task force in charge of overseeing anti-doping reforms in Russia has recommended that whistleblower Yulia Stepanova be allowed to compete at the Olympics as an independent athlete. Along with her husband, Stepanova gave information that led to a broad investigation of doping inside Russia.

The 800-metre runner has asked to be able to compete at the Olympics and the IAAF task force recommended she be allowed to because of the “extraordinary contribution” she made to the anti-doping effort.

The IAAF taskforce chairman Rune Andersen found Russia had failed to overturn a systemic and deep-seated system of cheating and said the Olympic loophole is only for Russian athletes who can prove they are not part of the Russian system and have been subject to anti-doping tests by non-Russian testers.

John Coates described Russia as “rotten to the core”.

“Those who might get through tiny crack in the door have to be subject to reliable drug testing regime outside of Russia and that is to safeguard the other clean athletes,” he said.

Only the country’s highest profile stars who have been able to compete or live internationally will be able to satisfy this criteria.

“The easiest way was to completely ban all of the Russian track and field federation but we were advised in order to stand up to (a legal) proportionality rule then there should be a way out,” Mr Anderson said.

But he admitted that any of Russia’s many failed drug cheats who had served their sanctions would not be automatically banned, and they could apply to compete in Rio if they satisfied the drug testing measure.

Mr Andersen also revealed, after being privy to the Richard McLaren investigation into Russian tampering of Sochi Olympic samples, that there was evidence of state government collusion with the Sochi lab “to filter samples”.

Mr Rune’s taskforce found a deep-seated culture of tolerance, or worse for doping that lead to the Russian athletics federation being suspended in the first place and that the culture had not materially changed.

He noted there was no effective anti-doing infrastructure and said there are partly substantiated allegations that the Russian authorities, far from supporting the anti doping effort, have orchestrated systematic doping and the cover up of positive drug tests.

Originally published as Rio Olympics 2016: IAAF makes call on Russian track and field ban