ITU Supports its Russians for Rio
State-sponsored doping by Russian athletes constrained the World Track & Field Federation, the IAAF, to ban that country’s competitors from track competition in the Olympic Games. Triathlon’s governing body feels better about its Russian athletes. The ITU will recommend to the IOC that its 6 likely Rio starters from Russia be allowed to compete.
In the men’s race this will include Igor and Dmitry Polyanskiy (who placed 1st and 2nd in the Tiszaujvaros World Cup earlier this month) along with Anastasia Abrosimova and Mariya Shorets for the women.
The IOC set down criteria on the 24th of July that must be met for any Russian in any sport to compete in Rio. This process allows international federations (IFs) to present cases on behalf of their own sport’s Russian athletes. WADA criticized this process, standing by its own recommendation that Russia be banned as a country from the Rio Games. About 7 in 10 Slowtwitch readers taking a poll ongoing now believe Russian triathletes should not be allowed to compete in the Rio games.
The IF of each sport must, "carry out an individual analysis of each athlete’s anti-doping record, taking into account only reliable adequate international tests.” However, the IOC stressed that, "The absence of a positive national anti-doping test cannot be considered sufficient by the IFs.” It is not clear, then, how the IF makes its case on behalf of an athlete. Nevertheless, that is the process the IOC has established.
Further, no Russian athlete can race in Rio "who has ever been sanctioned for doping,” and the IF must "examine the information contained in the IP Report” (WADA’s “Independent Person” report, published July 18, outlining methodologies for state-sponsored doping), and "seek from WADA the names of athletes and National Federations (NFs) implicated. Nobody implicated… may be accepted for entry or accreditation for the Olympic Games.”
Finally, the IF’s recommendation must be, "upheld by an expert from the CAS list of arbitrators."
"None of the six Russian triathletes (three men, three women) that have qualified for 2016 Olympics are included in the McLaren report,” said the ITU spokesman Erin Greene, "nor have any of them served suspensions or bans for failed doping tests. Additionally, they have all been tested outside of Russia. Therefore, ITU will recommend to the IOC that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month.”
Our reading of the IOCs rules for inclusion of Russian athletes is that one final hurdle remains before Russian athletes can toe the line in Rio: the upholding of the ITU’s recommendation by an expert CAS arbitrator.
