There’s no Russia at the Olympics, but its athletes are winning medals in Tokyo. Here’s how
This report was first published in theprint.in and has been posted here without any alterations or editing. To read the original report, CLICK HERE
New Delhi: Russia is not participating in the Tokyo Olympics. And yet Russian athletes have already won 22 medals at the event, including seven golds.
Despite a ban on the country participating in any international sporting event till 2022, 335 Russian athletes are part of the Tokyo Olympics, participating under the ROC banner, which is currently ranked fourth, according to the medal tally.
ThePrint explains the Russian paradox at the Olympics.
Why are Russian athletes competing under the ROC banner?
In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from participating in any international events for four years, following doping allegations against athletes from the country.
In 2020, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), reduced the ban to two years — the period of which ends on 16 December 2022. The country is prohibited from participating in any international sporting event during this time, which includes the Tokyo Olympics, the coming Paralympics in August or Winter Olympics in Beijing in February and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
However, while the country is banned — stopping Russian athletes from participating under the country’s banner and flag, using the country’s name or singing the national anthem — the country’s athletes are participating at the Tokyo event under the ROC banner.
ROC stands for the Russian Olympic Committee, but since the use of the committee name is also prohibited under the ban, the athletes are using the acronym ‘ROC’, which is all that Russian athletes have been allowed to publicly display as the association to which they belong.
Also, only those athletes who are not under any suspension or restriction have been allowed to participate.
Why was Russia banned?
In 2014, 800-metre runner Yulia Stepanova and her husband Vitaly, a former employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) exposed a sophisticated doping programme in a German documentary.
In 2015, a WADA-initiated investigation revealed a system of state-sponsored sports doping and the covering up of failed anti-doping tests of athletes at the lab of the then RUSADA chief, Grigory Rodchenkov. Rodchenkov, who had been the mastermind behind doping by Russian athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, fled to the US shortly after the report was published.
The accreditation of Russia’s anti-doping lab was revoked the same year.
Another whistleblower came forward in 2016 and told The New York Times that Russia ran a planned state-sponsored doping scheme. NYT‘s source was none other than Rodchenkov, who claimed intelligence officers substituted player’s urine through a hole in a wall, prompting an investigation by WADA, IOC and other global sporting federations.
An independent investigation was ordered by WADA, the report of which was published in July 2016, and claimed Russian players routinely used drugs to enhance performance at 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Following this, 111 out of 389 Russian athletes were barred from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics, based on preliminary investigations. The entire Russian team was banned from participating in the 2016 Paralympics.
After multiple investigations, even though it was revealed that more than 1,000 athletes across 30 sports were aided by state-sponsored doping, in September 2018, WADA lifted the sanctions, on the condition that Russia hands over data relating to its athletes from its Moscow lab to doping regulators.
However, it was alleged by WADA that Russia tampered with the data and so WADA imposed a four-year ban on the country’s participation in international events, later reduced by the CAS to two years, following an appeal by Russia.
Even after the ban ends, Russia will have to pay all fines and contributions (cost incurred by WADA on the case, equivalent to either 10 per cent of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s annual income in 2019 or 1,00,000 USD whichever is lower), agree to follow all terms of WADA’s sanctions and adhere to its regulations.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Courtesy: theprint.in
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ready to help, PM Modi tells Myanmar's Senior General as his country recovers from earthquake
Bangkok (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing that India was doing everything possible to assist the nation in recovering from the aftermath of a massive earthquake that killed several thousands.
Modi met Senior General Min, the head of Myanmar's military government, on the sidelines of the Summit meeting of the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping.
"Met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok. Once again expressed condolences on the loss of lives and damage to property in the wake of the recent earthquake. India is doing whatever is possible to assist our sisters and brothers of Myanmar in this critical time," Modi wrote on X.
This was the Prime Minister’s first interaction with Senior General Min, who came to power in a military coup in February 2021.
"We also discussed bilateral relations between India and Myanmar, particularly in sectors like connectivity, capacity building, infrastructure development and more," he said.
India has launched Operation Brahma to help relief efforts in the earthquake-hit Myanmar, where a military coup in February 2021 brought Senior General Min to power.
During the 35-minute meeting, the Myanmarese ruler appreciated the speed at which India sent in assistance immediately after the March 28 earthquake.
“We are ready to help,” the Prime Minister is learnt to have conveyed to Senior General Min.
India has deployed military field hospitals in Mandalay, which was near the epicentre of the earthquake.
A senior official of the Myanmar administration also visited the hospital set up by India in Mandalay.
India has also deployed its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel who are assisting in the relief work in Myanmar.
Over 3,000 people have died in the Myanmar earthquake, nearly 5,000 have been injured, and over 370 remain missing nationwide.
