In just a few weeks, people from all over the world will be gathering to watch the Summer 2016 Olympics in Rio. Unfortunately, not all athletes will be attending this year's event due to failed drug tests.
IOC (International Olympic Committee), is made up of 90 individuals from 14 nations; these people are in charge of coming up with the rules involved with Olympic Athletes. Partnered with IOC, another committee, WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency), who enforced the Anti-Doping Code in 2004, which brought strict rules to the athletes before and during the games (1).
The rule is that all of the Athletes are given a time frame usually a month of when the games begin, for this year it is July 24 to Aug. 21. During that time they can be randomly tested at any moment, even if the athlete has already competed at an event. If an Athlete fails to appear or simply gets a positive test back, he or she will be disqualified and can be stripped of any medals that were previously won during the event (2).
If you would like to read more about the drugs that are permitted and prohibited for the athletes visit: http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/athlete-guide/
Now in recent news, it is known that as of last November, Russia is having an estimated 68 athletes be suspended from this year's Summer Olympics. In BBC News, it shows the process of the scam Russia used for their athlete's drug testing:
1. They had the athletes give a clean sample
2. They froze the clean samples
3. The Athletes continued to use the drugs
4. At the games, the athletes gave a sample to the association
5. The samples were then smuggled out into another room and were then switched out with the clean tests that were previously taken.
To learn more about the process visit BBC news: http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36855244
In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Sport said: “Clean athletes dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behavior of other athletes and officials. They have sacrificed years of their lives striving to compete at the Olympics and now that sacrifice looks likely to be wasted.”
In addition, I will add another comment from the President of WADA, Mr. Craig Reedie said "This is not about punishing some athletes for the actions of others, it's about the Russian federation failing to live up to the world anti-doping code. It is vital to ensure that all athletes are competing on a level playing field."
Here I posted a video of the 29-year-old Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt talk about the drug usage in Track and Field and how the situation is getting worse.
What happens next:
It is said that the IOC will be meeting on Sunday July 24th to determine the official ruling of what is to happen to the Russian Athletes.
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