A thunderbolt fell on Russian athletes preparing for Winter Olympics 2018 when International Olympic Committee banned the country from participating in the event.
- The decision is a result of the McLaren report which revealed details of a state-sponsored doping programme that had been in place for many years.
- The report notified the "systemic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia"
- The report also stated that doping was fully endorsed by the Russian sports ministry
- A lifetime ban to the country's deputy prime minister, Vitaly Mutko, has been handed and IOC has prevented him from having any involvement in the Olympic Games,
- IOC has ordered the Russian government to pay $15m to set up a new Independent Testing Authority and reimburse the cost of their investigations.
- Some Russian athletes can still participate in the event under a neutral flag but the Russian Flag and National anthem will remain absent from the event.
- On the other hand, Germany and Japan were not invited to the Games following the World Wars.
McLaren Report
- The McLaren Report is an independent person prepared by professor Richard McLaren.
- The report was published in two parts which presented its finding into allegations and evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia.
- It was commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in May 2016.
The report stated that
"beyond a reasonable doubt" that Russia's Ministry of Sport, the Centre of Sports Preparation of the National Teams of Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow had "operated for the protection of doped Russian athletes" within a "state-directed failsafe system" using "the disappearing positive [test] methodology." Urine samples were opened in Sochi in order to swap them "without any evidence to the untrained eye".
Results of the Report
- International Association of Athletics Federations banned Russia from all international athletic competitions, including the 2016 Summer Olympics.
- Russian weightlifters were banned from Rio Olympics for numerous anti-doping violations
- The IPC unanimously voted to ban Russian athletes from the 2016 Summer Paralympics in response to the discovery of a state-sponsored doping program.
Key Facts about Winter Olympics
- The 2018 Winter Olympics is a major international multi-sport event officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games.
- It is scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.
- The first Asian city to host the Winter Games was Japan which is followed by Nagano
- Pyeongchang will be the third Asian city to host the Winter Games
