IOC President Thomas Bach said that he "favoured life bans for drug cheats, lamenting that current laws made such hardline measures impossible to execute." Asked about a possible scenario of the twice-suspended Justin Gatlin winning the 100m world title in Beijing this weekend, Bach said,
"If you ask me about my emotions, I would say clearly, yes, I would still support a lifetime ban. But legally it's just not possible. A lifelong ban would not stand any kind of (legal) challenge so we have to accept that. As for (Gatlin), if you have an athlete who has served his suspension then he has the right to compete" (AFP, 8/21). ... Brazil "has raised the official budget for the Rio 2016 Olympics" by 70M reais to 38.67B reais ($11B). Brazil's Olympic Public Authority (APO) said that the increase "was made because of additional costs associated with Olympic venues," which are now estimated at 6.67M reais, reported Xinhua news agency (IANS, 8/22). ... The head of sailing's governing body "has threatened to move all Olympic sailing events out of polluted Guanabara Bay unless the water is cleaner and floating rubbish is removed for next year's Rio Games." ISAF CEO Peter Sowrey:
"If we can't get the water to a level, then we'll move it outside (to the Atlantic Ocean) -- for sure." Such a move "would be an embarrassment" to local organizers and the IOC. They have said repeatedly that the water "is safe despite being filled with floating rubbish and untreated sewage that gushes down gullies from hillside favelas" (AP, 8/23).
