Jared Tallent presented with London 2012 Olympic gold medal for 50km walk

AFTER being presented with his London 2012 gold medal, Australin race walker Jared Tallent has warned the Rio Olympics will be tarnished forever if Russia’s athletics team is allowed to compete.

OLYMPIC champion Jared Tallent has warned the Rio Games will be tarnished forever if Russia’s athletics team is allowed to compete.

In a passionate plea just minutes after receiving the Olympic gold medal from London 2012 in a ceremony in Melbourne, Tallent urged the IAAF to ban Russia to save the credibility of the sport.

“I believe if the Russian track and field team is there it will hurt the credibility of the Games,” Tallent said.

“I hope they (the IAAF) make the right decision, I hope they make the correct decision.

“I would be very, very angry and more athletes would be robbed of medals again (if they aren’t banned).

“It would tarnish the Games, with all this talk about doping now and that would just make it worse.

Jared Tallent's Gold Medal Presentation on the steps of Treasury buildings Picture: Alex Coppel.

“Every medal won by a Russian athlete in track and field there would be question marks over that and it would be a bad for the image of the sport and the Games.”

The IAAF are meeting in Europe early Saturday morning to decide whether to rule Russia out of the Rio Olympics because of continued concerns over its widespread doping.

Russia’s Sergey Kirdyapkin was stripped of the 50km walk gold medal from London for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March.

Looks like Melbourne is going to put on a good show today #gettingpumped #notlongtogo pic.twitter.com/hnFk1tL8GP

— Jared Tallent (@JaredTallent) June 16, 2016

More than 500 people turned out at the Treasury Building despite the constant rain for the official ceremony where it was handed over to Tallent by IOC vice-president John Coates.

“This is a clear message (to the IAAF), this day was amazing but this day should have happened in London 1405 days ago that’s when I should have received the gold medal,” Tallent said.

“It’s a clear message that we don’t want drug cheats at the Olympic Games, we want pure sport. We only want hardworking honest athletes there.

Jared Tallent presented with his Gold Medal for the 50km Walk

“The evidence is quite clear that Russia haven’t made the changes necessary to be there.”

Coates, who is also the Australian Olympic Committee boss, said Russia was “rotten” to the core and was confident the IAAF would ban them from Rio.

“I expect that the IAAF will maintain the sanction against Russian athletics,” he said.

Ballarat-born Tallent becomes one of just seven Australian men to win Olympic gold and he now has the complete set having claimed silver in the 50km and bronze in the 20km event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Jared Tallent Medal Presentation

“I am one of the lucky athletes to have this happen, I know there are other athletes particularly in my event who have missed out on gold medals (because of cheats) in the past,” he said.

“This is really special that I could get this medal today but feel really sad and sorry for those athletes who have missed out.”

Tallent heads overseas on Monday to continue his Rio preparation where he is excited about being on the start line as the defending champion.

“I am the Olympic champion and I have got everything that comes with being the Olympic champion so when I stand on the start line in Rio I will have all the motivation that I need and confidence I need to hopefully go and defend the title,” he said.

Sergey Kirdyapkin of Russia was stripped of his gold medal earlier this year

While the banning of Russia will help cleanse his event, Tallent still has to deal with Italian Alex Schwazer who returned from a doping ban last year to beat him at the world championships in Beijing.

“Unfortunately there is an Italian who was banned just before London who has just come back from a three year and nine month ban and we have question marks over him,” Tallent said.

“He was the winner in Beijing (last year) and I was second behind him there, it then came out he was working with Lance Armstrong’s doctor so there are question marks over him.”

Tallent also received an Order of Australia medal from Governor-general Peter Cosgrove during the gold medal ceremony.

Feels strange that it's #50DaysToGo until Rio and I'm dusting off this jacket for tomorrow! #RoadToRio #GoldMedal pic.twitter.com/A6SJdtTc0Y

— Jared Tallent (@JaredTallent) June 16, 2016

History has been rewritten.... I am Olympic champion! pic.twitter.com/eRRCy6zqXt

— Jared Tallent (@JaredTallent) March 24, 2016

John Coates' full speech at the Jared Tallent presentation

His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove and Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove, other distinguished guests, and particularly our host the Hon John Eren MP representing the Victorian Government who I thank for all of your generous assistance for this presentation; my IOC colleagues; ladies and gentlemen.

It is a great privilege and honour to be designated by IOC President, Thomas Bach to present the Olympic gold medal to Jared Tallent for his victory in the Men’s 50 kilometre Walk at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Presenting an Olympic medal is always an honour, but more so on this occasion to be part of rectifying, in some way, the massive injustice perpetrated on Jared by a doping cheat and aided by a Russian Anti-Doping Agency and Russian Athletics Federation that were rotten to the core.

I will explain.

Sergey Kirdyapkin, who finished ahead of Jared in London, was one of six Russian athletes sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations by the Russian Anti-Doping Authority, based on irregularities in their athletes’ biological passports. 

Kirdyapkin was subjected to many in- and out-of-competition blood sample collections between August 2009 and August 2012 (that is, over the three years leading up to and during the London Olympics) - samples which were considered to be highly abnormal.  He was unable to scientifically rebut the conclusion of three independent experts, based on irregularities observed in his biological passport, that he had doped.

A cheating athlete - but wait for the sting!

When the disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Authority declared Kirdyapkin ineligible for a total period of three years and two months, they commenced the sanction after the London Olympics.  Not an issue.  Also not an issue that they disqualified his competitive results to coincide with the periods when his blood samples were taken (August 2009 to August 2012), or almost, and here’s where they were playing games with us.  They conveniently excluded two periods when Kirdyapkin had been competing and concluded the period during which his competitive results were disqualified on 11 June 2012 - some six weeks before the London Olympics. 

Kirdyapkin’s London Olympic result would have been allowed to stand, and we would not have been here today, had the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) not successfully appealed against him and five other Russian athletes who had received similar favourable treatment, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after they were identified by a WADA Independent Commission investigating widespread doping in Russia late last year.

CAS rectified the matter on 24 March 2016 by ordering that all competitive results obtained by Kirdyapkin from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified.

A lengthy explanation, but one I know that Jared will not mind me sharing with you at this victory ceremony for a “clean” athlete.

An athlete who will now be proudly, and rightly, representing Australia in Rio as the current Olympic champion and Olympic record-holder.

Jared, you are a great Australian and it is my honour to present you with your gold medal.

Originally published as Jared Tallent presented with London 2012 Olympic gold medal for 50km walk