caseyedwards
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Yep its true soon sotnikova plushenko v/t b/s I/k s/k will all soon have to give back their sochi medals.
I suspect many in the media decided a long time ago that figure skating is fixed.When was the last time Brennan spoke about figure skating? It seems like she's moved on from the sport.
In the U.S., PBS News Hour had a story on this tonight that featured an interview with Christine Brennan. Of all U.S. journalists, I would expect Brennan to seize on any opportunity to talk about figure skating if there was any chance of a connection to scandal. But as far as I heard, she never mentioned figure skating ... even though she DID bring up Sochi Olympics toward the end of the interview. The focus was almost entirely on track and field. I think the attempt to link this scandal to figure skating in any way is a huge overreach.
Has there ever been a performance-enhancing drug that has shown to be effective for figure skating? I can't argue that a fix hasn't been in at some competitions...the toe-tapping was a pretty good indicator of that...but that seems rather different to me than doping.
The IOC studied the functioning of the WADA accredited laboratory in Sochi during the Olympic Winter Games 2014 following the doubts expressed during the Independent Commission’s press conference. In this context the IOC relies on the then report of the WADA independent observer group which makes no mention of any such irregularity. Nor was any such irregularity reported by the international experts involved, nor found by the IOC itself. Therefore, the IOC has no reason to question the credibility of the results of the anti-doping tests carried out at the Olympic Winter Games 2014. However, the IOC retaining all the doping samples for ten years, will retest samples in an appropriate way should substantial doubts arise. In any case, the IOC may retest samples once new scientific techniques become available.
Rodchenkov had called members of WADA “idiots” on Monday: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/athletics/article4609695.ece“The acting director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov announced his resignation,” an aide to Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
“The minister accepted his resignation and one of the specialists at the laboratory was appointed in his place, Maria Dikunets,” Natalya Zhelanova said, adding that “the laboratory’s accreditation is temporarily halted”.
Wall Street Journal: Putin Orders Internal Investigation Into WADA Doping Charges;"We must do everything in Russia to rid ourselves of this problem," Putin said in footage shown on Russian television of the meeting - ironically called to discuss the country's preparations for Rio 2016.
"We must carry out our own internal inquiry," he said, telling sports officials to show "the most open and professional cooperation with international anti-doping authorities".
"This problem does not exist only in Russia, but if our foreign colleagues have questions, we must answer them," he said.
ETA:The Russian leader said that those guilty should be held individually responsible, and that innocent people shouldn’t pay for the transgressions of others—an implicit pushback against the WADA commission’s suggestion that the entire Russian track and field team be banned from competing at the 2016 Olympics.
...
Apart from the doping allegations, the Russian president rebuked his country’s teams for their poor performance heading into the Olympics next year.
The country’s swimming, shooting, rowing, badminton, table tennis, triathlon and road cycling teams were singled out by the Russian president for showing weaknesses.
“I ask my colleagues to explain what has been done to change the current situation and what the picture looks like with preparation of athletes in summer sports,” the Russian president said at the meeting, suggesting that there was still time to make corrections in the run-up to the Games.
The report itself details major concerns with how WADA, funded 50-50 by the International Olympic Committee and national governments, operates. Though carefully worded, they collectively form something of an indictment not so much of the organisation or the people within it but of the manner in which its funders have clipped its wings.
... It [WADA] “continues to face a recalcitrant attitude on the part of many stakeholders that it is merely a service provider and not a regulator” and “needs to continue its educational role, but also to insist on compliance by all signatories”.
In other words it has morphed into a timid beast, tied up in knots by its constitution and funding. As such, it is unable to perform properly the job for which it was created. Perhaps the biggest worry is that it took a fearless investigative journalist, aided by courageous whistleblowers, to uncover this deep‑rooted scandal in the first place.
There was no 33 gold medals from Sochi, it was 13 gold medals...I don't believe it! Putin has admitted that Russia has some 'problems'. And former members of the KGB were in the labs while the tests were being completed? What? Sounds like an old b-movie from the seventies. Yeah... now I'm wondering about those 33 Russian gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics also. Why did it take so long?
I would be very surprised - I have a sense that boycotts are a thing of the past. Too much $$ involved.So does anyone think that this could build to a Russian boycott of Rio? The games are about 9 months away.
There was no 33 gold medals from Sochi, it was 13 gold medals...
1) 3 gold medals were from FS
2) 3 short track, thanks to Victor Ahn
3) 2 from Snowboarding ... Thanks to Vic Wild
4) Bobsleigh 2 gold medals and 1 skeleton ... these sports rarely see doping, it is possible. Russian gold can be credited to track awareness. They took advantage of going down the track multiple times. Also, this is very usual for host to do well in these sports.
5) that leaves a gold each in cross-country and biathlon each. Both have had high doping and Russians have failed dope test. The issue is Russians were really struggling in these sports. It was only on the last few days of these events they managed to get waxing of the skis correct.
The Russian performance at Sochi was more opportunistic than large doping plan.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told The Associated Press on Thursday that there will "not in any case" be a boycott of next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A short time later in a separate interview, the acting president of the Russian track federation told the AP he is ready to own up to some of the charges leveled in the World Anti-Doping Agency commission's massive report on doping in the country.
"We admit some things, we argue with some things, some are already fixed, it's a variety," said Vadim Zelichenok, declining to provide further details. "It's not for the press."
IOC President Thomas Bach, meanwhile, met with Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov and other officials in Lausanne, Switzerland, amid signs that both sides were working toward an agreement that could avoid a ban.
Bach has said sanctions are up to the IAAF and WADA, but also stressed that the IOC will be ready to strip any medals from Olympic athletes mentioned in the report who are found guilty of doping.
I hope all the russians who won a medal in athetics at London 2012 are caught and stripped of them.
Jared Tallent, race walker from Australia, deserves that gold medal the russian won (and a year later was caught of doping)
I hope that any athletes who cheated, regardless of nationality, are caught and sanctioned. I would like to think that some Russian athletes did play by the rules, and should not be punished (though they may well end up being so, if Russia is found to be non compliant). Also, I don't for a moment believe that only Russians dope, though it may not be as organized and systemic elsewhere. But the bottom line is that the goal should be fair competition. And to achieve this, the focus should be beyond 1. just Russia and 2. only doping. As comprehensive as the report is, it needs to be a first step, not the only one.I hope all the russians who won a medal in athetics at London 2012 are caught and stripped of them.
Jared Tallent, race walker from Australia, deserves that gold medal the russian won (and a year later was caught of doping)
ETA:In the short term, a suspension would keep Russians out of a dozen or so international events the rest of this year, including the European cross-country championships in France on Dec. 13. The athletes could then miss the indoor season, including the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon, from March 17-20.
Other big events that Russian runners could be ineligible for include the Boston and London Marathons in April.
Russia also faces being stripped of the hosting rights of three IAAF events — the Moscow indoor meet on Feb. 14, the world race walking championships in Cheboksary from May 7-15, and the world junior championships in Kazan from July 19-24.
Russian athletes would be eligible to compete in their own national events during a ban, which only covers international competition.
I assume so. Only the IOC has the power to strip Olympic medals retroactively: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ae5a...ioc-suspends-diack-opens-way-stripping-medalsI would expect WADA to investigate doping. If the investigation turns up evidence of other kinds of cheating, who would lead the investigation? The IOC?
AP's summary of the main players in the Russian doping scandal: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/23532822d6534907b5c5ca6d7765c71f/main-players-russian-doping-scandal"The IOC has asked the IAAF to initiate disciplinary procedures against all athletes, coaches and officials who have participated in the Olympic Games and are accused of doping in the report of the Independent Commission," the statement said.
Following the conclusion of the IAAF investigation, the IOC "will take all the necessary measures and sanctions with regard to the withdrawal and reallocation of medals and as the case may be exclusion of coaches and officials from future Olympic Games."
Those who have doped whether Russian or otherwise is caught for doping is the right word. I certainly don't think likes of Yelena isinbayeva doped, even if her political beliefs are crazy.
9:55 p.m. - Mutko slams decision to ban Russia from trackRussia's track and field federation has been provisionally suspended by the sport's governing body following damning allegations of state-sponsored doping.
The decision by the IAAF's ruling council will keep Russian track and field athletes out of international competition for an indefinite period — possibly including next year's Olympics in Brazil.
The vote was 22-1.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has slammed Russia's suspension from track and field as "very strange," saying the IAAF should have focused on its own legal problems instead.
Mutko tells The Associated Press in a telephone interview that "our reaction is calm. We didn't expect anything else," and that the suspension could be lifted in time for the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon, in March.
With the IAAF's former president under investigation by French prosecutors investigating corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the IAAF, Mutko says its priorities should have been elsewhere.
He says banning Russia at this time "looks very strange."