Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that accusations of a state-sponsored doping conspiracy which led to his country’s Olympic banishment were orchestrated by the U.S. because it "can’t beat us fairly." Lavrov: "I think it’s a form of competition without scruples because the U.S. team, obviously, are not capable of beating us fairly at sport." Lavrov, meanwhile, accused the U.S. of engineering the ban as a means “to find and keep their place as indisputable world leader in sport" (HERALD SUN, 2/11).
The IOC introduced a "mourning area in the Olympic village in memory of those killed in the An-148 plane crash near Moscow on Sunday." On Monday, IOC members "expressed their condolences to the families of the victims," adding that "those wishing to pay homage to the 71 people who perished may do so in a specially created area in the Olympic village" (RT, 2/12).
The POCOG said on Monday that a total of 177 norovirus cases "had been confirmed so far at the Games" but that the athletic delegations "remained unaffected." The POCOG said that 19 new cases of the virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea had been confirmed as of Sunday afternoon. It added that of the 177 cases, "68 had recovered and had been released from quarantine and returned to work at the Games" (REUTERS, 2/11).
