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IOC expects decisions on Russian doping cases next month | CBC Sports Loaded
IOC expects decisions on Russian doping cases next month
The leader of an IOC delegation in charge of reviewing 28 cases wrote to the head of the IOC Athletes Commission this week to update the timeline of cases stemming from a report detailing a Russian doping scheme in Sochi and beforehand.
6 cross-country skiers have their provisional suspensions expire on Oct. 31
Eddie Pells · The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 19, 2017 7:34 AM ET | Last Updated: October 19, 2017
In this Feb. 18, 2014 file photo, a Russian skating fan holds the country's national flag over the Olympic rings before the start of the men's 10,000-meter speedskating race at Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. (The Associated Press)
Investigators at the International Olympic Committee expect to have "a number" of doping cases involving Russians at the Sochi Olympics resolved by the end of November, but they have no plans to dictate the eligibility of these athletes for next year's Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
The leader of an IOC delegation in charge of reviewing 28 cases involving athletes at Sochi wrote to the head of the IOC Athletes Commission this week to update the timeline of cases stemming from a report detailing a Russian doping scheme at the 2014 Olympics and beforehand.
Denis Oswald said that of the cases his committee is reviewing, priority has been given to those involving athletes looking to compete in Pyeongchang. Top priority goes to six cross-country skiers whose provisional suspensions expire Oct. 31.
Oswald also said his committee would rule on these athletes' results for Sochi, but will not determine their eligibility for Pyeongchang, instead handing over evidence to their respective sports federations to decide.
The IOC also appointed a task force to look at the Russian doping scandal as a whole, the results of which could have wider repercussions on the country's eligibility at next year's Olympics. In a separate letter sent to worldwide sports leaders, IOC President Thomas Bach said only that the Schmid Commission is continuing its evaluation and that "I hope that the IOC Executive Board will still be able to take a decision this year because none of us want this serious issue to overshadow" the upcoming Olympics.
The updates come amid a growing chorus of calls for a timely decision and for Russia's ouster from Pyeongchang.
The IOC commissions are operating off information from the McLaren Report, the first part of which was released in July 2016.
In explaining the timeline, Oswald wrote that because the Russian scheme involved exchanging dirty urine samples with clean ones, it took time to adopt methods to verify that samples had been tampered with — in part by finding evidence of scratch marks on collection bottles that had been opened and re-sealed. "The task has not been easy in both establishing a methodology in an area in which there are no established protocols," he wrote, "and then moving through the necessary scientific analysis of each individual sample in a way which would withstand legal challenge."
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