Enough. Give Russia its flag back and make real changes
New York Times|
Feb 23, 2018, 11.10 PM IST
Now that the Pyeongchang Olympics are almost over, the International Olympic Committee has to decide whether Russia has done enough penance for its statesponsored doping program to march with its flag in the closing ceremony on Sunday. It is not an abstract question. The Russians were here, after all: The country had nearly 170 athletes competing as neutrals under the opposite-of-neutral label of Olympic athletes from Russia. But the hand-wringing about the flag has grown tiresome.
Will the Russia team remain in exile or not? Could a partial ban solve the problem, in which the Russians would be allowed to wear official team uniforms bearing the flag, yet still be barred from carrying the flag? Could they carry the flag, but wear neutral uniforms?
What’s next? Official Russian uniform jackets, but neutral pants? Neutral jackets, but Russian-flag-themed pants? A Russian flag, but one only half the regular size? Enough of this farce. Just give the Russians their flag back. And then let’s start talking about the real issue. The IOC’s plan for showing the Russians who’s the boss has — most likely on purpose — lacked teeth from the start.
What the organization needs is a tangible plan that could once and for all take antidoping responsibilities away from nations like Russia — but not only Russia — that in so many cases have shown a predisposition toward looking the other way on doping, especially when it comes to their own athletes. It needs to create an independent worldwide antidoping task force, with enough financing behind it to make it work.
The IOC will have to demand that all national Olympic committees and sports federations pitch in, but it needs to reach deeper into its own pockets, too. NBC Universal has committed nearly $8 billion for the media rights for the Games from 2021 through 2032. That’s a lot of money for the IOC to throw around, and right now seems like the right time to throw a lot more of it at antidoping.
Ahead of these Winter Games, the IOC talked a big talk to clean up Olympic sports, yet allowed Russia to send one of the largest contingents to these Games, and then approved a “neutral” uniform with the word “Russia” on it.
So what’s the sense in letting the IOC pretend to be a hard-liner on doping now that the Games are almost done by keeping the Russian flag out of the closing ceremony? The fact that it’s even considering reinstatement, or the laughable partial reinstatement options, shows it still isn’t serious about punishing nations that cheat to win.
Russians won 13 medals through the first 13 days of the Games. None were gold, though that is likely to change when the women’s figure skating is decided Friday morning here. But the Russians were awarded four silvers and nine bronzes, and that’s still something. But you can’t help but wonder, given Russia’s history, if some of the athletes who finished behind them were robbed again.
We know at least two Norwegians who’ve already had their medal moment stolen. They blame Alexander Krushelnytsky, a Russian curler. When Krushelnytsky, a bronze medalist in mixed doubles curling, tested positive here for the banned drug meldonium, he at first denied taking the drug.
Russian officials claimed sabotage, an unoriginal excuse. Elite athletes here keep close tabs on what they eat and drink, and they don’t leave their water bottles just anywhere.
“I think having a Russian that has tested positive is not a good thing,” said Angela Ruggiero, the chairwoman of the IOC’s athletes’ commission and a four-time Olympian in hockey. “Obviously we don’t want any athletes testing positive, but in this particular situation, where they’re under a microscope, it does raise questions.”
On Thursday, Krushelnytsky stopped fighting his case and abandoned his appeal. He and his teammate will lose their bronze medals, dropping Russia to just 12 medals won here. And while the Norwegians who finished fourth will get those bronzes, they said this week that they still felt “robbed of their moment of glory.”
So after a positive drug test, why is the IOC even debating whether Russia should march under its flag on Sunday? Sam Edney, a Canadian luger, said the Russian curler’s doping positive should guarantee that the Russian flag never waves inside the stadium. He has reason to be annoyed.
Edney was part of a team that finished fourth in Sochi, while a Russian team won silver. The Russian squad was later stripped of the medal for doping, meaning Edney and the Canadians would move up to bronze. But then the silver medal was reinstated just before these Games after the Russians won an appeal.
Edney’s roller coaster is one no athlete should be forced to ride. The IOC, he wrote on Twitter, “needs to make a statement that enough is enough.”
Will the Russia team remain in exile or not? Could a partial ban solve the problem, in which the Russians would be allowed to wear official team uniforms bearing the flag, yet still be barred from carrying the flag? Could they carry the flag, but wear neutral uniforms?
What’s next? Official Russian uniform jackets, but neutral pants? Neutral jackets, but Russian-flag-themed pants? A Russian flag, but one only half the regular size? Enough of this farce. Just give the Russians their flag back. And then let’s start talking about the real issue. The IOC’s plan for showing the Russians who’s the boss has — most likely on purpose — lacked teeth from the start.
What the organization needs is a tangible plan that could once and for all take antidoping responsibilities away from nations like Russia — but not only Russia — that in so many cases have shown a predisposition toward looking the other way on doping, especially when it comes to their own athletes. It needs to create an independent worldwide antidoping task force, with enough financing behind it to make it work.
The IOC will have to demand that all national Olympic committees and sports federations pitch in, but it needs to reach deeper into its own pockets, too. NBC Universal has committed nearly $8 billion for the media rights for the Games from 2021 through 2032. That’s a lot of money for the IOC to throw around, and right now seems like the right time to throw a lot more of it at antidoping.
Ahead of these Winter Games, the IOC talked a big talk to clean up Olympic sports, yet allowed Russia to send one of the largest contingents to these Games, and then approved a “neutral” uniform with the word “Russia” on it.
So what’s the sense in letting the IOC pretend to be a hard-liner on doping now that the Games are almost done by keeping the Russian flag out of the closing ceremony? The fact that it’s even considering reinstatement, or the laughable partial reinstatement options, shows it still isn’t serious about punishing nations that cheat to win.
Russians won 13 medals through the first 13 days of the Games. None were gold, though that is likely to change when the women’s figure skating is decided Friday morning here. But the Russians were awarded four silvers and nine bronzes, and that’s still something. But you can’t help but wonder, given Russia’s history, if some of the athletes who finished behind them were robbed again.
We know at least two Norwegians who’ve already had their medal moment stolen. They blame Alexander Krushelnytsky, a Russian curler. When Krushelnytsky, a bronze medalist in mixed doubles curling, tested positive here for the banned drug meldonium, he at first denied taking the drug.
Russian officials claimed sabotage, an unoriginal excuse. Elite athletes here keep close tabs on what they eat and drink, and they don’t leave their water bottles just anywhere.
“I think having a Russian that has tested positive is not a good thing,” said Angela Ruggiero, the chairwoman of the IOC’s athletes’ commission and a four-time Olympian in hockey. “Obviously we don’t want any athletes testing positive, but in this particular situation, where they’re under a microscope, it does raise questions.”
On Thursday, Krushelnytsky stopped fighting his case and abandoned his appeal. He and his teammate will lose their bronze medals, dropping Russia to just 12 medals won here. And while the Norwegians who finished fourth will get those bronzes, they said this week that they still felt “robbed of their moment of glory.”
So after a positive drug test, why is the IOC even debating whether Russia should march under its flag on Sunday? Sam Edney, a Canadian luger, said the Russian curler’s doping positive should guarantee that the Russian flag never waves inside the stadium. He has reason to be annoyed.
Edney was part of a team that finished fourth in Sochi, while a Russian team won silver. The Russian squad was later stripped of the medal for doping, meaning Edney and the Canadians would move up to bronze. But then the silver medal was reinstated just before these Games after the Russians won an appeal.
Edney’s roller coaster is one no athlete should be forced to ride. The IOC, he wrote on Twitter, “needs to make a statement that enough is enough.”
