Russian Athletes Suspended Over Doping; Unable to Compete in World Athletics Championships

The doping issues in Russian sports have grown into a huge issue, affecting the fate and future of the nation’s participation in global athletics. Russia has had the most Olympic medals stripped due to doping violations. In four years, thousands of Russian athletes, in several different sports, have profited from the doping scandals and cover-ups. As a result, the nation remains suspended and faces expulsion from London’s World Athletics Championships, set to kick off in August.

In the meantime, the Russian Athletics Federation continues to make progress toward reinstatement by the International Association of Athletics Federation by completing the criteria needed for their track and field team to compete again for the nation internationally. According to reports, the IAAF taskforce that worked to help the Russians meet the requirements, has suggested that the country remain suspended as they’ve discovered “some negative developments” since December.

In addition to the lack of anti-doping testing in the nation, the government has yet to come to terms with their issues, which in turn, forced IAAF officials to recommend continued suspension.

“The road map that I outlined clearly states that there will be no reinstatement until the Russian Anti-Doping Agency is functioning,” Rune Anderson of the IAAF said. “If everything goes in accordance to plan there will be a full reinstatement by November 2017. Which means that Russia as a nation, or RUSAF, is not recommended by us to be reinstated until that time.”

This means the team will be ineligible for the championships in August unless they complete under a neutral flag after proving to the IAAF that they have completed regular testing outside of the country. However, if they continue in the right direction, there should be no question about reinstatement in November.