The International Olympic Committee may have suspended Russia’s team from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, over a system of doping. But the ruling — which allows Russian athletes to compete under a “neutral flag” — is a joke, a non-punitive punishment meant to save face while protecting the committee’s and Russia’s commercial and political interests.
I feel entitled to say this because I conducted the investigation on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The 2016 report of the WADA investigation found that Russia operated a state-sponsored doping program on a level not seen since East Germany’s and, in the process, cheated hundreds of clean athletes of their rightful place on Olympic and World Championship pedestals.… Seguir leyendo »
It was one of the most hotly anticipated events of the Rio Olympics -- the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, and the crowd was revved and ready Sunday night. A lot of competitive history was at stake.
So when the relay squads walked out, fans greeted them with all of the intensity that such a marquee event deserves.
Except for the Russians. When the Russians walked out, the thunderous cheers from the international crowd turned to jeers.
Suddenly, there was booing in the Olympic Games. And that's rare. The global event traditionally sees fans adopting underdogs and cheering on the very last competitor to cross the line, rather than throwing shade in any direction.… Seguir leyendo »
Every Olympics seems to bring with it a doping scandal, and the Rio games are no different. Well before Friday’s opening ceremonies, state-sponsored doping in Russia, widespread doping on the Chinese swim team, and questions about a Rio drug-testing lab have renewed worries about whether a “clean” Olympics will ever be possible.
It might be tempting to throw up one’s hands and see these revelations as nothing more than the latest in a series of sordid stories about athletes seeking an edge. After all, pro sports from cycling to baseball are rife with similar tales of performance-enhancing substances. But the recent Olympic doping scandals are symptomatic of something more significant: the return of semi-rogue countries determined to bypass international norms and conventions in a systematic way not seen since the cold war.… Seguir leyendo »
In less than two months, I hope to be competing in the pole vault at the Olympic Games in Rio. This would be my fifth and final Olympics — a unique accomplishment for a woman, one that seemed just a faint dream when I started my career almost two decades ago.
But this dream may not be fulfilled. I and my fellow track and field athletes from Russia were suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (I.A.A.F.) from international competition, including possibly the Olympics, after the World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed allegations of state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes. On Friday, the I.A.A.F.… Seguir leyendo »
Para quienes aman el juego limpio, descubrir el alcance del programa ruso de dopaje, respaldado por el Estado, ha sido una pesadilla hecha realidad. Informantes rusos han presentado pruebas de laboratorios no oficiales, alteraciones por parte de funcionarios de inteligencia del Estado y cambio de muestras en las olimpiadas. Eso supone una violación a la esencia del deporte y, a pocos días de los juegos de verano de Río, un ataque a los valores fundamentales del movimiento olímpico.
El escándalo comenzó con una investigación de la televisión alemana sobre el dopaje organizado de los atletas rusos, parcialmente, basada en los testimonios de dos valientes rusos, Vitaly Stepanov, un exfuncionario antidopaje, y su esposa, Yulia, corredora de media distancia.… Seguir leyendo »
For those who love clean sport, discovering the extent of Russia’s state-supported doping program has been a nightmare realized. Russian whistle-blowers have come forward with evidence of shadow laboratories, tampering by state intelligence officers and swapped samples at the Olympics. This is a violation of the very essence of sport and — only months from the Summer Games in Rio — an assault on the fundamental values of the Olympic movement.
The scandal first unfolded with a 2014 German TV investigation into organized doping in Russian athletics, based in part on testimony from two brave Russians, Vitaly Stepanov, a former Russian antidoping official, and his wife, Yulia, a middle-distance runner.… Seguir leyendo »
Sport can be exploited by politicians, eager for some of its popularity and excitement to rub off. But when sport itself 'goes bad', through scandal, it normally follows that politicians, like corporate sponsors, keep their distance.
In Russia, however, the usual rules do not apply. For starters, sport in that country, as with much else—business, history, culture—is indelibly intertwined with politics. And while, as in all countries, a team’s or an individual’s performance is a matter of national pride, the exposure of malfeasance in Russian sport is perceived in that country as an attack on the nation as a whole—another example of foreigners’ Russophobia alongside that shown by the NATO expansionists, the regime topplers and the Ukraine lovers.… Seguir leyendo »
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future" is an aphorism attributed to the great baseball player Yogi Berra.
But one topic where pundits, politicians and prognosticators of every persuasion don't have any problem about making pessimistic predictions is terrorism.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, was an Olympic-level example of this. In the lead-up to the Games, the airwaves were filled with glum predictions that Sochi would be the 1972 Munich Olympics on steroids.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News, "There's a high degree of probability that something will detonate, something will go off.… Seguir leyendo »
Hoy termina Sochi. A pesar de las polémicas generadas por el coste abismal de los Juegos, la fiesta internacional del deporte que el mundo esperaba ha tenido lugar en Rusia, sin mayores incidentes de seguridad. Este éxito podría suponer un empujón al gran proyecto de desarrollo de unas 10 estaciones turísticas anunciado por el Gobierno ruso en el Cáucaso Norte, una zona plagada de tensiones que necesita urgentemente de empleo y una visión de futuro. Un proyecto necesario sí, pero que podría sufrir las consecuencias del desencuentro que ha habido entre Sochi y la población local. Los vecinos de las instalaciones olímpicas acabarán siendo los grandes perdedores de los Juegos: las expropiaciones, el impacto ecológico y el arresto de representantes de ONG medioambientales dejarán un sabor amargo.… Seguir leyendo »
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world -- and many of their allies -- are protesting the Winter Olympics in Sochi because of Russia's anti-gay law, which basically criminalizes pro-gay speech or propaganda.
As a lesbian, and yes, one who has been known from time to time to propagandize (i.e., write and talk) about how gay people are equal in every sense imaginable to straight folks -- and should be treated as such -- I feel the Russian law is unthinkably inhumane and offensive. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a reason to boycott the Sochi games and ostracize Russia on the world stage in general.… Seguir leyendo »
Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one who’s on center stage at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
All you had to see was the team photo with the Russian gold medal winners of the team figure skating event where he was the man in the center of the picture after the victory.
Much of the media still have failed to grasp exactly who Mr. Putin is. Instead, journalists make fun of the problems at the hotels, including poorly built bathrooms and undrinkable water. I won’t even touch NBC’s Bob Costas‘ ridiculous comment that Mr. Putin has been a “peacemaker” in Syria and Iran and his colleague Meredith Vieira’s offensive description about the end of the Soviet Union as “a bittersweet moment.”… Seguir leyendo »
As the Winter Olympics in Sochi have gotten underway, the world has been captivated — and shocked — over the state of accommodations reporters and athletes are facing.
The lack of heat, electricity, working doorknobs, locks and even running water have stymied even the most intrepid of journalists. Let’s not even mention the side-by-side twin toilets, the inability to flush toilet paper, or even to wash one’s face owing to tap water that resembles jet fuel.
With hotels still under construction, the estimated $51 billion price tag of this Olympics, the most expensive in history, have many wondering why hosting such a grand event seemed to catch the Russians by surprise.… Seguir leyendo »
The Sochi Winter Olympics may have cost seven times as much as the Vancouver ones four years ago, but they are achieving President Vladimir Putin's goal: Russians, including many of his fiercest opponents, have united in a powerful upsurge of patriotism.
Skepticism about the mammoth effort was widespread before the games started, with many Russians re-posting the scathing comments of Western journalists on Sochi's lack of preparedness. The tide started to turn just as the Olympics were about to open. "The mass Facebook masochism about the shamefulness, absurdity and nastiness of how everything is organized in Sochi is suddenly terribly irritating," novelist Boris Akunin, one of Putin's most vocal opponents, wrote on Facebook.… Seguir leyendo »
In 2007, when Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Guatemala City to support his country’s bid to host this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, he knew that winning would be the easiest step in the process.
Many joked that only Russia would propose a subtropical seaside resort for a winter-sports competition. While concerns about a lack of snow in the surrounding mountains, or about Russia’s ability to build the needed infrastructure in time, have gradually receded since Russia was awarded the games, one major apprehension has remained: the threat of terrorism.
Sochi is located in the North Caucasus region, which, following the Soviet Union’s dissolution, experienced a long and brutal armed insurgency in Chechnya, while neighboring Dagestan, in particular, later became a hotbed of Islamist extremism and terrorism.… Seguir leyendo »
Remember 2007? Russia was starting to look like a world power again. Its economy was growing at a record 8.5 percent annual rate. Political life had stabilized. Support for President Vladimir Putin was stratospheric. The decade-long Chechen rebellion seemed to have been suppressed. And, to top it off, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2014 Winter Games to Russia’s Black Sea resort, Sochi.
In many respects, it was a strange choice of venue: sunny Sochi has beautiful mountains but little or no snow. It is also 1,368 km south of Moscow, with few direct flights from Europe, while the trip from the United States can involve up to four legs.… Seguir leyendo »
No debería sorprender a nadie que los preparativos para los Juegos Olímpicos de invierno en Sochi hayan resultado tremendamente caros y plagados de corrupción. El coste de la construcción de pistas de esquí, pistas de hielo, carreteras, pabellones y estadios de deportes de invierno en un resort subtropical del mar Negro ha sido de más de 50.000 millones de dólares. Los críticos dicen que la mitad de esta cifra ha sido robada o pagada como sobornos a los compinches del presidente Putin. Un crítico , un empresario llamado Valeri Morozov, afirma que los funcionarios de la propia oficina de Putin exigieron sobornos para contratos.… Seguir leyendo »
¿Recuerda usted el año 2007? Rusia comenzaba a mostrarse nuevamente como una potencia mundial. Su economía crecía a una tasa anual récord del 8,5%. La vida política se había estabilizado. El apoyo al presidente Vladimir Putin era exorbitante. La rebelión chechena, que ya tenía una década de duración, aparentemente había sido suprimida. Y, como guinda de este pastel, el Comité Olímpico Internacional adjudicó la sede de los Juegos de Invierno del año 2014 a Sochi, un centro turístico ubicado en la costa del Mar Negro de Rusia.
En muchos sentidos, este lugar fue una extraña elección: la soleada Sochi cuenta con hermosas montañas, pero las mismas tienen poca o ninguna nieve.… Seguir leyendo »
In the mid-19th century, a Frenchman described the reconstruction of St. Petersburg's monumental Winter Palace after a fire. To meet the czar's deadline during a bitterly cold winter, the "unprecedented efforts" included heating the structure's interior to almost 90 degrees. Of the thousands of laborers who braved the extremes of temperature, "a considerable number died each day," wrote the Marquis de Custine, "but, as the victims were replaced by other champions who filled their places, to perish in their turn in this inglorious gap, the losses were not apparent."
Moderation has never been Russia's strong suit — not in the creation of its imperial capital centuries ago and not today, as it unveils the Winter Olympic Games at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.… Seguir leyendo »
Olympian Roberto Carcelén wouldn’t be competing in Sochi if it weren’t for his wife, Kate. She was the one who introduced him to skiing after he gave up elite surfing in Peru to move to Seattle and marry her. She convinced him that it was like surfing on frozen water.
When Carcelén skis for his native Peru on the cross-country track this month, however, Kate and their daughter will be at home. Amid reports about the possibility of terrorist attacks at the Winter Games, they decided it would be safer that way — and less stressful.
“I’m going to be up training in the mountains, while the family would be down in the city outside the Olympic rink,” Carcelén told CNN.… Seguir leyendo »
Every Olympiad is a venture, a mammoth undertaking, what the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky mused about poetry — “ezda v neznaemoe,” a ride into the unknown. It is thus largely because four dangers haunt every modern Olympic Games: unfavorable weather, be it too cold or not cold enough; shoddy construction in the mad rush to finish; public protests by various groups seeking to spotlight their causes; and, since the early 1970s, terrorism.
But in hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian President Vladmir Putin has looked at the stern quartet across a poker table and said: “I see you and I raise you.”… Seguir leyendo »
Utilizamos cookies para el correcto funcionamiento de la página web y analíticas para estadísticas.ACEPTARPolítica de privacidad
