As you may have heard, some Russian athletes were barred from participating in the Olympics in Rio in light of alleged large-scale state-sponsored doping, and it's unclear how many will qualify to go. Please read the Wikipedia article on this for adequate depth and balance of coverage that you won't get from a single news source.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_Russia
My reflections below:
After reading the wiki article, it appears there's substantial evidence for doping cover-ups, much as it pains me to say that, and that would be well within the MO for the current Russian state. I think the IOC's decision is fair. I understand the sentiment of the athletes who are opposed to it - they love their sport and don't want it to be tainted by doubts of unfairness - but I think they have unexamined biases against Russia. How would they want the IOC to react if it were their country?
Also, a unilateral sanction would play squarely into the anti-Western victimization narrative woven by the Russian state. Especially since it's evident there's some doping going on everywhere, the stakes are too high not to. If you follow a sport for years, it's pretty obvious when previously unremarkable athletes all of a sudden start performing exceptionally. There's a race to stay ahead of WADA bans.
I've lamented Russia coverage before, and I've since pretty much come to terms that Wikipedia is the most impartial and exhaustive way to read up on any of these big news items. For example, you can read WADA's accounts of the problems they had collecting samples and understand why 90% of Russian athletes might refuse to be interviewed - their mistrust of WADA is understandable. Of course, some of them live or train in military or restricted access cities, because people live there. And it makes sense they didn't have the best directions, because no one thought to be more specific about X competition that everyone knows about. You can read statements by Russian officials on the matter and see how they're consistent with party-line BS. You can see what other people wrote and evaluate which perspectives are more nuanced, and how the source may have been biased.
It pains me greatly that many Russian athletes will be barred from competing and may even be stripped of their titles as the investigation into previous Olympics continues. I sympathize with them even if they were complacent in the doping cover-up, as the onus of guilt is on the shitty system, run by a power-hungry psychopath with delusions of grandeur. They also love their sport.
Just one final thought that is pertinent from any side of the issue - to think that a large international competition is free from the influence of politics is naive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_Russia
My reflections below:
After reading the wiki article, it appears there's substantial evidence for doping cover-ups, much as it pains me to say that, and that would be well within the MO for the current Russian state. I think the IOC's decision is fair. I understand the sentiment of the athletes who are opposed to it - they love their sport and don't want it to be tainted by doubts of unfairness - but I think they have unexamined biases against Russia. How would they want the IOC to react if it were their country?
Also, a unilateral sanction would play squarely into the anti-Western victimization narrative woven by the Russian state. Especially since it's evident there's some doping going on everywhere, the stakes are too high not to. If you follow a sport for years, it's pretty obvious when previously unremarkable athletes all of a sudden start performing exceptionally. There's a race to stay ahead of WADA bans.
I've lamented Russia coverage before, and I've since pretty much come to terms that Wikipedia is the most impartial and exhaustive way to read up on any of these big news items. For example, you can read WADA's accounts of the problems they had collecting samples and understand why 90% of Russian athletes might refuse to be interviewed - their mistrust of WADA is understandable. Of course, some of them live or train in military or restricted access cities, because people live there. And it makes sense they didn't have the best directions, because no one thought to be more specific about X competition that everyone knows about. You can read statements by Russian officials on the matter and see how they're consistent with party-line BS. You can see what other people wrote and evaluate which perspectives are more nuanced, and how the source may have been biased.
It pains me greatly that many Russian athletes will be barred from competing and may even be stripped of their titles as the investigation into previous Olympics continues. I sympathize with them even if they were complacent in the doping cover-up, as the onus of guilt is on the shitty system, run by a power-hungry psychopath with delusions of grandeur. They also love their sport.
Just one final thought that is pertinent from any side of the issue - to think that a large international competition is free from the influence of politics is naive.
