Rio 2016 Diaries: and the deluge begins

Yuliya Stepanova, photo by PhotoRun.net

RIO NEWS

RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): “There have been many measures we’ve undertaken before the Games. We want to keep as many cheaters away from the Games as possible. We had a targeted testing programme, for which 2,200 athletes were selected, after having monitored their testing history. (These were athletes) which had made the biggest jumps in their performance. We had 700 recommendations for extra testing,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a press conference. “On top of this, we have the most comprehensive re-analysis programme for Beijing 2008 and London 2012, with 1200 tests completed. [There have been] 98 tests positive, as of today. In Rio, we will have up to 4500 tests for urine and 1000 tests for blood. For the first time in Rio, the IOC has decided to make sanctioning independent. So if athletes are positive, they are not sanctioned by the IOC, this will go direct to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who will independently take measures”, Bach concluded per olympic.org.

RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): Names of all 98 athletes from different sports to have tested positive following targeted re-analysis of drug tests at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London respectively will not be confirmed until after Rio 2016, it was revealed. It is because the legal process is continuing to analyse each athlete implicated on a case-by-case basis. All those to have tested positive have, however, been barred from taking part at Rio 2016 with the IOC claiming this fulfills their primary obligation to stop drug cheats participating here. From insidethegames.

RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): A three-person IOC Executive Board panel has been selected to make final decisions on the eligibility of all Russian athletes competing at Rio 2016. The panel will consist of Germany’s IOC Athletes’ Commission chair Claudia Bokel, Turkey’s IOC Medical Commission chair UÄŸur Erdener and Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch. It will make rulings based on independent advice from arbitrators from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Only those who have been deemed eligible by International Federations will be considered, meaning those already barred have no means to gain a late reprieve.