In an ongoing, seemingly-endless saga that is Russian doping, the IOC has officially announced the confirmation of 271 Russian athletes to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games – out of the original 389 names submitted by Russia.
Among the 271 confirmed, as announced by the Russian Olympic Committee, are Vlad Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev – two of the three swimmers removed from participation in the Olympics as a result of being named as a part of the Russian “disappearing positives” program that the World Anti-Doping Agency’s McLaren IP Report alleges was undertaken by the Russian anti-doping regime.
In a continuing show of solidarity of secrecy between WADA, the IOC, the ROC, and FINA, all of whom have refused to answer our questions about details of any allegations against any swimmers, the full list of athletes has not been posted. Instead, the IOC has sent the list to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), who put out a release confirming some, but not all, of the names.
In a complex twist of logic, the IOC, insisting that they’ve held steadfastly to their July 24th ruling that included among it not allowing any athletes named in the McLaren IP report to compete, have in fact confirmed World Champions Vlad Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev, both named in the McLaren IP report, to compete.
This leaves four swimmers ineligible for the Olympics:
Among them, only Yulia Efimova appealed her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as Morozov and Lobintsev did.
The Russian Olympic Committee criticized the report on the foundations of news leaks on Thursday that indicate that the evidence of disappearing positives might not have been as significant as initially indicated by the World Anti-Doping Association.
“In our opinion, this is a flagrant violation of human rights and the Olympic Charter,” ROC president Alexander Zhukov said. “I would also like to note that the McLaren report, on the basis of which a group of Russian athletes was punished, contains many inaccuracies and no provable statements. It is recognized, in particular, by FINA in the example of swimmers Nikita Lobintseva and Vladimir Morozov.”
Zhukov is referencing FINA’s continuing support of the Russian Federation, including calling the McLaren report an over-reach of power.
No fewer than 25 teams, depending on how you define a team, have been confirmed in their entirety. That includes aquatic sports in diving, women’s water polo, and synchronized swimming.
- badminton,
- boxing,
- cycling-BMX
- mountain biking,
- volleyball,
- beach volleyball,
- handball,
- golf,
- slalom,
- judo,
- equestrian sports,
- table tennis,
- sailing,
- diving,
- trampoline,
- synchronized swimming,
- women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling,
- gymnastics,
- bullet and clay pigeon shooting,
- archery,
- tennis,
- triathlon,
- taekwondo,
- fencing and
- gymnastics.
In a SwimSwam article a couple days ago, Russia already knew that both Morozov and Lobintsev were to be allowed back in, which was later denied by FINA.
In light of this, should we be surprised of this outcome?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Vlad and Nikita had podium finishes.
Circus… All IOC and WADA execs aka clowns should retire after Rio
how could they……what a joke……great way to loose credibility….who paid what to get them off?
disgusting!!!
Only a matter of time before swimming becomes like cycling or baseball. IOC dropped the ball here.
Justice for Vlad.
This is very difficult to follow…does Yulia get entered if CAS rules in her favor tomorrow?
Highly likely Yulia prevails in the CAS ruling, but is that moot now with this IOC decision?