Thud of Retribution Reverberates in Russia
Sports of The Times
By
MICHAEL POWELL JUNE 17, 2016
Sebastian Coe, center, and Rune Andersen, right, of the I.A.A.F., barred Russian athletes over systemic doping findings. CreditLeonhard Foeger/Reuters
So the bear will be left to wander the athletic wilderness this August.
For years, haltingly at first and now with eloquence, some elite athletes have spoken of ridding their sports of doping and the accompanying clouds over grand accomplishment.
Last March in Oslo, I talked with the American biathlete Lowell Bailey. “Are we supposed to just accept that we’re not nearly as clean as we thought?” he said.
He answered his question with a shake of the head: “You want repercussions, some sort of retribution.”
Repercussion and retribution arrived Friday with a thud. The chiefs of international track and field barred the participation of Russia in the
2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. A global superpower, Russia had engaged in top-down and systematic doping of its elite athletes and covered it up, they said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/18/sports/a-thud-of-retribution-reverberates-in-russia.html
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