The International Association of Athletics Federations has banned the Russian track and field team from the 2016 Summer Olympics after a doping scandal. As other federations with doping problems look on, it remains to be seen whether the decision will be upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the International Olympic Committee.
In confirming the lurid details of a state-sponsored doping scandal in Russian track and field, WADA's Dick Pound made clear, "We don’t think that Russia is the only country with a doping problem, or that athletics is the only sport with a doping problem." He also discussed how results from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi may be tainted, and said there is likely doping in cross-country skiing and biathlon.
Athletes will likely no longer face the testing at Olympic Games. The decision has few other implications for skiing, which has not had occasion to do gender testing for several years: “Should it be necessary to arrange a gender verification... then the Olympic Movement rules would be applicable,” FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis told FasterSkier.
A transcript (find a link inside) of the German documentary which exposed systematic doping in Russia reveals an even worse situation than imagined: how easy it is to purchase cheap EPO without a prescription; how Russian officials threaten that any athlete who goes to the press might "have an accident". Plus, we talk to Lowell Bailey, Nathan Smith, and Max Cobb about the situation.
After a two-year review process, the World Anti-Doping Agency approved a new code last week, which intends to make it harder for cheaters to cheat. But the efforts are still ongoing, and the code and accompanying regulations aren't foolproof.
Note: For more on Professor Ljungqvist’s fight against doping in Sweden, and its effect on Scandinavian sport culture, you can read
Nikolai Pankratov’s reported detainment at the Swiss border made waves in the cross-country skiing community when the news broke last week. But since then, there’s been barely a ripple of information to emerge from the International Ski Federation (FIS)—which, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, is in charge of handling the case. What is known about Pankratov is this: according to multiple reports, the Russian cross-country skier was stopped at the Swiss border with intravenous...