Opinion | Tokyo Olympics: Diluted ban lets scandal-ridden Russia off the hook again
- Sport’s highest court bans Russia for two years, including next year’s Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, but halves initial punishment
- Athletes can still compete under a ‘neutral’ banner, and wear red, white and blue uniforms with ‘Russia’ emblazoned on their jerseys
Pigs will fly before we see an Olympics without doping. Fantastic as that sounds, it’s practically a guarantee.
Let’s be clear: The Olympics, and all big-time sports for that matter, were never really “clean”. But with the establishment of anti-doping agencies worldwide, there was at least the hope they would be “cleaner”.
Yet, even that modest aspiration got tossed out the window on Thursday, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided to halve what would have been an already lenient four-year proposed ban on the serial-doping Russian Federation.
“So they can’t fly their flag or sing the anthem at the Games for another two years?” said Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency. “Big deal.”
Competitors who got caught cheating at the Games in ancient Greece had their likeness carved into stones placed on the pathway to the Olympic Stadium. Apparently, though, shaming folks doesn’t carry the sting it once did.
