IOC President Thomas Bach said that any competitor from Russia or Kenya "wishing to take part in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will need to be individually evaluated against doping and declared eligible by their sport's international federation," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Bach said that the special measure was being introduced because of the "unsatisfactory record of the anti-doping bodies in the two countries," which Bach said had put "very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence" of the athletes. Russian track and field athletes remain suspended from Rio after the IOC "approved a blanket ban on them" -- extended on Friday by the IAAF -- for systemic doping. Kenyan athletes "are not banned." But their country's anti-doping structures "are judged not to have been compliant with international standards" (REUTERS, 6/21). The BBC reported the IOC resolutions "clear the way for Russian athletes deemed clean by the IAAF to compete in Rio." The IOC also agreed:
- "To fully respect" the IAAF's decision to uphold the ban.
- To urge int'l federations and national Olympic committees "to undertake all efforts to keep doped athletes away from the Olympic Games" and "take swift action to suspend all athletes" caught using banned substances.
- To also sanction "coaches, officials, doctors or any other persons implicated" in cheating.
- To ask WADA to convene an "Extraordinary World Conference on Doping" in '17 (BBC, 6/21).
NO ONE 'WANTS PRECEDENT': REUTERS' Dmitry Solovyov reported the Kremlin said on Tuesday that "no one in Russia's leadership wants to create a precedent by boycotting the Olympics" in Rio if the IOC decides to ban Russian track and field athletes from the Games. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "I can only say that no one wants to create a precedent like this. President (Vladimir) Putin is a convinced supporter of Olympic ideals, and a convinced enemy of anything that may harm these ideas. But beyond all doubt, we intend to defend the interests of our sportsmen -- I mean, those sportsmen who are not associated in any way with doping use" (
REUTERS, 6/21).
MORE CRACKDOWNS: In a separate piece, Grohmann reported leading sports powerbrokers gathered at the IOC HQ to "discuss further crackdowns on drug cheats before the Rio Games." IAAF President Sebastian Coe and Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov "were present at the meeting, just four days after the IAAF maintained its suspension of Russia's track and field team." The gathering of IOC members and federation heads is "set to discuss the situation in Russia as well as several other countries, non-compliant with the WADA" (REUTERS, 6/21).
LATE TRAIN: The AP's Adriana Gomez Licon reported seven weeks before the Olympic Games, "a subway expansion that was supposed to transport hundreds of thousands of athletes and fans is not done." While Brazilian officials "insist it can still be finished in time, frequent delays, skyrocketing costs, and a financing snag have created doubts." Even if Rio de Janeiro "completes the key part of the expansion in time, transportation experts worry it may be too late to adequately test the system" before the Olympics open on Aug. 5. The launch date has been "repeatedly pushed back," with officials saying that they will "cut the ribbon four days before competition begins" (AP, 6/21).
