Australian turned Russian track cyclist Shane Perkins not giving up on his Tokyo dream after WADA bombshell

Australian cyclist Shane Perkins, who defected to Russia two years ago, says he believes in his adopted nation and is not giving up on his Tokyo Olympic dream despite the WADA bombshell.

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Australian cyclist Shane Perkins, who defected to Russia two years ago to chase his Tokyo Olympic dream, says he is not shaken by the WADA bombshell and is just as determined to compete under a neutral flag.

Perkins’ ambitions are largely driven by the romance of his father Darryl competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics but also because at 32 he believes he still has more to give.

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He gained Russian citizenship in 2017 after being told by Cycling Australia he was no longer required in the national sprint program after winning two world titles, Commonwealth Games gold and Olympic bronze medals.

Perkins holds a dual passport and is not required to live in Russia but spends a week in Moscow every six months while being based in Perth.

He was on track for the Olympics in the team sprint and as an individual in the keirin after finishing on the podium at the UCI track world cup in New Zealand last week.

But on Monday night his plans hit a hurdle when the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) announced it had banned Russia from all major sporting events for the next four years, including next year’s Olympics, for manipulating laboratory data.

Speaking from Brisbane where he is preparing to race in the UCI world cup starting on Friday, Perkins said he still believed he would be able to compete in Tokyo.

Shane Perkins during the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Picture: Adam Head.

“Obviously this (investigation) has been going on for quite some time between the IOC, WADA and RUSADA,” Perkins told The Advertiser.

“We knew there was a possibility of something like this happening.

“I can’t control it, it’s out of my hands and there are some athletes who have inherited this situation to a certain extent.

“It’s a matter of looking at our options and in my case one of those options is to race under a neutral flag.

“Sport can be fickle and political. We put a lot of time and effort into a very small moment of our lives like an Olympic Games and it would be a shame to miss out through no fault of our own.

“At the same time, I have had their (Russia) support the whole time and without it I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”

Perkins when he became Russia’s national keirin champion in 2017.

Asked whether he had any reservations about representing Russia or whether he had seen anything untoward since joining their national program, Perkins said “no”.

“I believe in my team,” he said.

“If I didn’t I never would have come on board and I’ve not seen anything that has made me question any of that.

“I am removed from the environment in some sense because I am living in Australia and training by myself, but at the end of the day it comes down to my ethics, who I am as a person and what I believe in.”

Perkins in action at the London Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the sprint.

Perkins hopes to race in another track world cup in Canada in January before contesting the world championships in Berlin in February where he can seal Olympic qualification.

But he does not yet know whether he will be allowed to race for Russia or as a neutral competitor at the world titles.

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Originally published as Australian turned Russian track cyclist Shane Perkins not giving up on his Tokyo dream after WADA bombshell