The Russian Doping Crisis

The IOC, IAAF and FIFA have quite a situation on their hands.  WADA has recommended that the entire Russian track & field team be suspended from the Rio Olympics because of a series of doping violations that appear to be much more serious than anybody first thought.  To make matters worse, they've concluded that it was a state-run system, harkening back to the Soviet Era.  In fact, a Moscow-area lab has been shut down, with all of its samples shipped outside Russia for retesting.

This all started almost a year ago, when a German documentary aired.  The documentary revealed that several Russian race walkers were found to have committed serious doping violations.  And by serious, I mean doping repeatedly for a span of years, including the London Olympics, where some of them medaled.  Under WADA code, one offense is enough to draw a two-year suspension (that's likely going to be increased to four after Rio so that athletes have to miss an Olympics).  Repeat offenders are subject to lifetime bans, which would almost certainly be applied in these cases.'

All of this, of course, led to an independent investigation.  And what that investigation found was shocking.  Not only were results tampered with, they were allegedly tampered with by government agents.  After the German report aired, the cover up included the destruction of more than 1,400 blood samples, and some athletes refused to cooperate or be tested (refusal to take a test is supposed to equal a positive).  Certain athletes were informed of when they were going to be tested so that they could adjust their doping cycles accordingly and avoid a positive.

Particularly suspicious were the results of drug tests leading up to the 2013 World Championships, which were in Moscow.  Russia led the way with seven gold medals at the 2013 Worlds, and the report suggests that the doping program was set up with that meet in mind.  They wanted the Russian athletes to put on a show in front of the home fans.  (To put it in perspective, Russia had four medals--two gold--at this year's World Championships in Beijing.)

Some of the athletes implicated never should've been competing in the first place.  They found that race walker Sergei Kirdyapkin's "biological passport" (I hear the term all the time and I still don't quite understand what it means) was at an unusual level in November 2011, yet did nothing until after he won gold at the London Olympics.  Same with Mariya Savinova, who won gold in the women's 800 at both the 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds.

It's not just the Russian federation that looks bad here.  They wonder why the IAAF didn't do anything, either.  Kirdyapkin wasn't the only eventual gold medalist that shouldn't have been in London.  Turkey's Asli Cakir Alptekin, who had previously served a doping suspension, also had abnormalities in her biological passport, but was allowed to compete and eventually won gold in the women's 1500.

Newly-elected IAAF President Seb Coe (the organizer of the London Games) is being left to clean up this mess.  Former President Lamine Diack just resigned as an honorary member of the IOC in response to this scandal, as well as unrelated bribery charges.

But it's Russia's track & field team that has been hit the hardest.  There are calls for the IAAF to take the 2016 World Junior Championships away from Kazan.  That's not anywhere near as drastic as the punishment that WADA has suggested, though.  Their recommendation is that Russia be prohibited from participating in any track & field events at the Rio Games, and a number of nations have gotten on board with that plan.

I don't think that's the solution, however.  Because it's unfair to punish those athletes that have done nothing wrong and have worked their entire lives for a moment that comes only once every four years.  That's why the 1980 and 1984 boycotts didn't work.  Is it right to deprive clean athletes of that opportunity?  I'm not saying some sort of punishment for the federation isn't necessary.  I just don't want to see everybody because of the sins of the few.

Are all Russian track & field athletes dirty?  Of course not.  Yelena Isinbayeva has dominated the women's pole vault for years and her results have never been suspect.  Darya Klishina's results have never been questioned either (although, that might just be my hopeful stance that the embodiment of Russian perfection can't possibly be tainted).  Same with hurdler Sergei Shubenkov and high jumper Ivan Ukhov.

Sure, there are probably plenty people out there who view every Russian result as questionable, but, just like when the BALCO crisis hit the American track & field team or Major League Baseball went through the Steroid Era, guilt by association isn't the answer.  Is it harder to determine who is and who isn't?  Yes.  Are sudden improvements by athletes who came out of nowhere going to be more suspect?  Of course.  But does that mean everyone's tainted?  No.

There's going to be an emergency meeting later this week where the IAAF and IOC will discuss this situation and determine what action to take.  IOC President Thomas Bach won't speculate on whether we'll see Russia's track & field athletes in Rio or not.  It's also been suggested that if the Russians take "swift action" (whatever that means), they won't miss any major meets (which in 2016 also includes the World Indoor Championships and European Championships, as well as World Juniors and the Olympics).

Whatever happens, this Russian doping scandal will lead to some much-needed changes.  And it will hopefully lead to a cleaner, purer sport.  While, sadly, you'll never be able to completely eliminate doping, countries can't get away with spitting the the face of clean sports, either.  Russia's athletes need to be punished.  To what extent?  I'm not sure.  But it would be a mistake to prevent the team from going to Rio.  That's not in the best interest of anybody.