It was just announced that the Russian Track and Field team is banned from the Rio Olympics. It is going to be an interesting Olympics!!
Hooray! I feel sorry for all the un-doped athletes who lost to Russians in the last Olympic track and field events.
WOW. That’s major. And surprising. I would think Rio would do everything in its corrupt power to ensure the Olympics stay as competitive as ever, given all the obstacles the Games are facing this year. There’s a great deal for the Olympics and Brazil at stake – leaving little room for ideals and honesty. I’m glad officials found their back bones at least on this issue.
Good. It is not just the Russians, sadly - Usain Bolt is going to lose his relay medal from one of the prior Olympics… His teammate’s sample retested positive for some dope, I read somewhere on Yahoo Sports.
A friend of mine dated a former professional athlete, now involved in anti-doping efforts. She said in his experience, most world-class athletes do some kind of doping. The question is of degree.
At this point I assume that all world-class track and field athletes are doping. It has greatly reduced my interest in the events.
They’re still world-class athletes, and it’s a thrill to watch them compete. I just wish everyone was a bit more realistic about the fact that the majority in many sports are dopers.
Why does Russia even need to send an entire team when it can just send that one man Hercules, Vladimir?
In pictures: The 12 Labours of… Putin
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29513589
“How else can we achieve high results?”
That’s what one of my former coaches would call, "Stinkin’ thinkin’…How has Germany managed to avoid sanctions too? Some clean Russian athlete is going to be sitting at home watching a race knowing that they could have won the gold medal if not for this ban.
I say BRAVO! for the IAAF. The excuse that “Everybody’s doing it, so why pick on the poor Russians?” doesn’t hold water. The huge difference here is that a thorough investigation revealed that Russia is running a STATE-SPONSORED doping program in athletics. Whereas in the USA or Germany for example, the primary culprits are the individual athletes and their coaches/trainers, and there’s no government program specifically designed to help athletes dope and avoid detection.
The IAAF has sent a powerful and overdue message, and I commend them for it.
Defensor is absolutely right. And even Russian officials admit they have a doping “problem.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/sports/olympics/russia-doping-vitaly-mutko-rio-games-track-and-field.html?_r=0
I agree with Defensor re the issue of state sponsorship of doping. Of course, Eastern Bloc countries have been doing it for decades.
I remember US male sports writers chiding the female US swimmers when they complained that something was definitely going on with the East German women. Oh no, they said, you just don’t work hard enough. Ha!
Found an article:
The US woman who complained was called “surly Shirley”. She was vindicated later.
Update: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/21/sport/russia-doping-ban-rio-2016-olympic-games/
It looks like the IOC will make its final determination on Sunday.
http://m.ocregister.com/articles/babashoff-712883-east-one.html
Shirley Babashoff has written a book. The link has a current picture of her.
I absolutely agree with Shirley Babashoff’s outrage. I wish the IOC could go back and redo those medals (which they refuse to do).
I hope the IOC bans the entire Russian team from the Olympics.
What about the female gymnasts? Could doping help them?
I hate the doping by the Russians now and the east Germans in the past. But at the same time I refuse to get too high and mightly about it, because I recognize that many American athletes are dopers too. The difference is that in the US it’s done by coaches, training teams, and networks of trainers and dope docs instead of the government. But it’s still highly organized,very scientific, and very skilled at doping the athletes and evading the tests…
I used to be a huge track and field fan. I went to the Olympics and World Championships in person. And I participated on a popular track discussion group. And also online were some European fans and athletes who were constantly complaining about the American dope scene. And for years I defended the US athletes, insisting that the Americans who tested positive were only a few scattered individuals, that it wasn’t wide-spread or highly organized, that most US athletes were clean, and that the sour grapes Europeans were just being cynical. Then the Balco scandal broke, that eventually resulted in the take down of Marion Jones and a wide network of US athletes, coaches, and dope docs. Remember Balco? After that I had to admit that the cynical Europeans had been right. Most US track athletes were dirty.
Since that time my interest in track has gone way down. I still watch Olympics on TV, but it’s just not the same. I don’t follow all the young athletes as they come up through the ranks any more. The only events I attend in person any more are occasional local high school cross country meets. I pray that Usain Bolt is clean, perhaps the last hero left standing, but inwardly I worry a lot that he’s not. . .
The problem with doping is as long as there is a perceived value to it, it is going to be done, and when you deal with very nationalistic programs, like you had in Eastern Europe, or in places like China, where the Olympics are tied closely to the government and its prestige, it is even worse, and the consequences, well, it is worth it if they get away with it enough to have bragging rights.
And yeah, I have heard what is the big deal, why bother, it is part of the sports and so forth. I heard the same thing with Football and baseball in the US, and the answer is because there are consequences. The steroid fueled home run derby of the 1990’s was MLB’s dream after the rancor of the baseball strike, but once the truth came out (no thanks to the MLB players association of Bud Selig and Major league baseball as a whole), it darn nearly took the game with it…and even if they were working with reputable doctors, taking Steroids has risks to it that means using it to enhance performance is Russian Roulette with 4 bullets in the gun. There hasn’t been any real studies done, but a number of players from the Steroid era of football, and from wrestling and weightlifting, have ended up with severe medical issues, like weird cancers, endocrine problems and you name. I wonder how those Eastern European athletes ended up later on. And given that steroids does give athletes a significant boost, it also means that others have pressure to do it, and it snowballs. What really scared me is with young athletes (in the US, in baseball and football) doing steroids in high school, often with the tacit approval of their coach, and the argument there was basically “to get ahead in these sports, you have to do it”, and there were kids as young as 12 and 13 doing it if SI is to be believed.
And quite honestly, I remember the home run chase back in the early 1990’s, I remember when Maquire and Sosa were going at it, it was exciting, but after the truth came out it had the taste in your mouth when you eat something that tastes filling going down but you later realize it was empty.