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Russian appeal against Olympic ban on track athletes gets rejected. Russians won’t race in Rio

Russia submitted an appeal against the IAAF's ban on their track team. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has shot it down

Rio de Janeiro

The Russian track team saga is over. No Russians will be running in Rio this year.

After news came out that the Russian track team has been involved in a mass doping scandal, the World Anti-Doping Agency commissioned an independent investigation. Late last year, the results of that investigation confirmed that a systemic doping issue has been dictating the results of Russian runners in international competition.

WADA strongly suggested that the IAAF boot the Russians out of Rio. The IAAF took that advice. Russia responded by asking the IAAF to review that decision and give a final answer by June— at which point, the IAAF upheld the ban.

That was followed by the Russian Olympic Committee submitting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to get their 68 athletes the go ahead. It was unsuccessful.

CAS has shot down the appeal this morning and so for the first Olympics since the 1984 boycott, no Russian runners will be competing. Head of the IAAF, Seb Coe, responded in an official statement saying the following: ““While we are thankful that our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti doping code have been supported, this is not a day for triumphant statements. I didn’t come into this sport to stop athletes from competing. It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude.”

He also said that after the Rio Games are finished, they will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean system for their athletes. He hopes that Russia will be able to return to international competition in the future.

The IAAF itself released a statement in response to this morning’s news. Their statement is below.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has taken a strong stance on upholding the World Anti-Doping Code without fear and favour and is pleased that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has supported its position.

Today’s judgement has created a level playing field for athletes. The CAS award upholds the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport, to protect clean athletes and support the credibility and integrity of competition.

While this issue has now been put to rest, another is following on its tail. After the track doping scandal came out, many questioned the country’s doping control system in other sports. That’s a similar story– other sports are seeing the use of WADA banned substances as well. Whether or not Russia will get a blanket ban from the Olympic Games entirely is a decision that is set to be revealed on the weekend.

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