Canmore’s Beckie Scott, chair of the World Anti-Doping Association’s athletes’ committee, has called for a full ban of Russia from the Rio Summer Olympics, Paralympics, and other international events following the release of the McLaren Report which outlines state-sponsored doping in the country.
However, the International Olympic Committee has delayed its ruling on Russia only weeks before the Olympic games.
On a conference call with members of WADA and IOC Athlete’s Committee, Scott said she felt vindicated by the report, which her committee has demanded for a year.
“We have been calling for this report since last November when the first allegations of doping in Russia surfaced. The results are shocking and depressing to hear,” Scott said. “We fully support the recommendations of the McLaren report and hope they are acted on to the highest intent.”
Scott has been a passionate defender of clean sport for years, and a vocal supporter of the McLaren investigation. Her husband, former Cross Country Canada head coach Justin Wadsworth, said after the Sochi Olympics the Russian performances in cross-country skiing were highly suspicious.
Adam Pengilly with the IOC Athletes’ Commission, said if the IOC fails to follow the recommendations, it could jeopardize the Olympic movement for years to come. The ruling will define the IOC and IOC president Thomas Bach’s legacy, according to Pengilly.
“I call upon the leadership of the IOC to follow up on the recommendations and enact it, and not exploit technicalities,” Pengilly said. “If the allegations are true, the IOC athlete commission believes Russia shouldn’t be at the next two Olympic Games.”
He stated young people won’t watch or believe in the Games if they are thought to be so heavily tainted by doping.
The 103-page report, authored by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, details an expansive doping program reaching throughout Russia and dating back four years to the leadup to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, with the employment of secret police to swap tainted urine samples out of a Russian testing lab.
The level of corruption was traced all the way to the Russian Ministry of Sport, and included the use of a hidden hole in a wall to remove and replace urine tests from doping athletes.
“Athletes who were not doping were not put on national teams. If they wanted to compete clean, they were not able to compete. That shows how all encompassing the program was – it was athletes all across the board,” said Ben Sandford of the WADA Athlete Committee.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has suspended staff named in the report, but also called for another report into the findings.
The whistleblower on the report, Grigory Rodchenkov, has since gone into hiding. Putin has since called him an individual with a notorious reputation.
“They have had to leave Russia and live in asylum, fearful for their safety. They were scandalized in Russia and must rebuild their lives elsewhere,” Scott said.
Canadian women’s hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser said the report could represent a sea change for sport.
“This is a big turning point for sport. There is a lot of vindication and I fully believe in the recommendations in the report,” Wickenheiser said.
Many local athletes took to social media to express their disgust, if not surprise, over the findings of the McLaren report.
“More and more evidence coming forward about cheating in Russia. When will the IOC stand up for clean athletes and make it a lifetime ban for cheating in sport, not only for athletes caught, but also for coaches who are proved to have been involved,” wrote Rosanna Crawford.
