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IOC President Thomas Bach Says Paralympics Ban For Russia Different From IOC Decision

IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russia's exclusion from next month's Paralympic Games in Rio "is a different situation from the IOC's decision to allow some Russian competitors to take part at the Olympics," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS.  Bach said that the Int'l Paralympic Committee only had to ban one federation -- the Paralympic Committee of Russia -- "while the IOC had to take a decision involving competitors from 28 international federations." The IOC "refused to impose a blanket ban on Russia following revelations of state-backed doping across all sports and instead set criteria for Russian competitors, including a clean doping past and sufficient international tests, to be eligible for Rio." Bach said, "It is a different situation and therefore a different decision. The IPC has just only one member federation in Russia. This you can compare for instance with the situation in the International Weightlifting Federation where also the IOC accepted and helped and supported the decision to exclude the whole team because you had so many cases" (REUTERS, 8/8). The AP reported the IOC "will keep trying to enforce a rule that would prevent former doping cheats from competing in future Olympics." Bach said that "he will make a third attempt to push through an Olympic ban on any athlete who has received a serious drug sanction." Bach said, "Where there is a serious doping offense, this athlete from my personal view should not have the right to compete in the Olympic Games. If somebody is taking steroids for weeks and months and has a whole system around him, there is so much cheating energy I do not think such athletes should compete ever again." The Court of Arbitration for Sport "has twice struck down a rule that would exclude athletes with prior doping cases from the Olympics." In '11, the IOC passed the so-called "Osaka Rule," a measure which would have barred any athlete who had served a doping sanction of more than six months from entering the subsequent Games. The Osaka Rule "was thrown out by CAS." Bach: "I hope we will have another chance now. I'll make another try. So we have lost twice. That encourages us to try a third time" (AP, 8/8). In London, Ian Herbert wrote the British delegation at the Rio Olympics "piled new pressure" on Bach, declaring that it was "disappointed" with his organization’s "weak response" to evidence of state-sponsored Russian doping and implying he is "failing to lead." With Bach’s credibility as leader of the Olympic movement "seriously damaged by his failure even to acknowledge Russian doping at the Rio Opening Ceremony," British Olympic Association Vice-Chair Hugh Robertson declared that the IOC "was in need of reform." Robertson said, "The IOC, which had reformed itself quite spectacularly after [the] Salt Lake City, perhaps needs to undergo a process of further reform now. Frankly, I have been a bit disappointed by their response to this" (INDEPENDENT, 8/8).

LOST CREDIBILITY: In Sydney, Todd Balym wrote Olympic swimmers and coaches "have lost complete faith in FINA amid revelations swimming’s governing body inexplicably let two convicted drug cheats escape out of competition testing for five months last year." As Australian swimmers grow "annoyed" at being targeted by Olympic testers in their own village before races, "which some believe is a deliberate payback for speaking out against doping, the sport is on the verge of revolt after years of apathy." Ning Zetao of China and Russian Yulia Efimova "were not tested once by FINA in the five months immediately after they were controversially crowned world champions last year." Olympic relay champion Melanie Wright said that it is "time to get rid of FINA and start with a clean slate for a clean sport." Wright said, "I think athletes and coaches have lost faith in FINA. ... What is most sad is that it is unsurprising that the proven drug cheats are not being tested. The system is broken" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 8/9). REUTERS' Julien Pretot wrote British cyclist Mark Cavendish said that world champion Lizzie Armitstead "is responsible for the chaos she is in following three missed drugs tests." Armitstead "was allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics" only after being cleared by CAS following a provisional suspension by UK Anti-Doping. Cavendish: "Did she dope? No and I don't believe she did. Was it an administrative error? Yes it was, absolutely? Was it her fault? Yes it was, absolutely. ... I had a missed test with the Giro d'Italia and I think the majority of sports people have a missed test because you are a bit blase until you get your first missed test. You are a bit blase until you miss your first test, but missing three? I think Lizzie herself could have prevented the chaos that she's in" (REUTERS, 8/9).

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