Hidden, dirty business of Russian athletics
FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2013 file photo athletes compete in a women's 3000-meter steeplechase heat at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. The credibility of the IAAF and sports in Russia will be on the line Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 when a report on extortion and doping cover-ups is published. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Credit: AP
There should be fewer Russians in Rio de Janeiro next summer competing in the Olympic Games. The organized, pervasive Russian doping program described yesterday by the World Anti-Doping Agency cannot go unpunished.
The findings implicated top athletes, coaches, trainers, doctors, Moscow's accredited drug-testing lab, the nation's anti-doping agency, and law enforcement agencies that intimidated lab workers -- basically, Russia's amateur sports establishment and the organizations that make sure rules are followed. Athletes were warned when they would be tested, samples were destroyed, and money was paid to hide results. WADA said the "state-sponsored regime" undermined the London Olympics in 2012. The report was stunning but, alas, not surprising. Russian athletes had 225 drug violations in 2013, far more than any other country. The worst was track and field; WADA recommended Russia be suspended from such competitions until it meets the agency's recommendations for reform. If that means the road to Rio is closed, so be it.
The scandal goes to the core of sport: its integrity. Ominously, WADA withheld part of its report while Interpol investigates possible criminal acts implied by the findings. WADA concluded that Russia is not the only country, and track and field is not the only sport, with "orchestrated" doping. This dirty business needs a thorough cleansing.
