IOC Head: Russia Will Face New Sanctions For 2014 Olympics Doping

Russia may have made greater efforts to introduce more anti-doping programs, but the International Olympic Committee doesn’t believe this is enough.

IN total, 28 Russian Olympians From Sochi Games have been accused of doping

Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, told the New York Times on Tuesday that the committee would penalize Russia for despite its leader Vladimir Putin’s plans to eliminate the doping culture from the country.

“We have the impression that some in Russia were thinking by addressing the issues for the future, the past would be forgotten,” Bach told the Times in an interview.

The IOC chief then specified that it was because of Russia’s doping scandal during the Winter Olympics it hosted in Sochi in 2014 that the committee was doling out new sanctions on the country.

“You cannot forget what happened in Sochi,” Mr. Bach said. “We have made clear that the past — what happened there — has to be sanctioned.”

Russia’s former national anti-doping lab director, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, explained in a detailed report prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio how he and the nation’s Federal Security Service had assisted Russia’s Olympic athletes use prohibited, performance-enhancing steroids during the Sochi 214 Games.

At those Olympics, Russia dominated the competition: the country won 33 medals, 13 of which were gold. Although none of the medals from those Games have been stripped from any of the athletes who won them, the IOC began disciplinary hearings in December 2016 against 28 Russian Olympians for their participation in state-sponsored doping programs throughout the Sochi tournament. The committee cited evidence that the athletes’ urine samples had been tampered with.

The entire Russian national track and field team was consequently banned from participating in the Rio Olympics in Brazil last summer, and the nation’s full Paralympic team was also suspended from the competition.

Bach did not say how harsh the sanctions against Russia would be, although he stressed that he wished for the case to be solved by October “at the latest,” given that qualifying competitions for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea will be underway soon.

“We want to get this done as soon as possible,” Mr. Bach said. “To come to the appropriate sanction, we have to find out how deep this system of manipulation was rooted.”

An investigator named Richard McLaren — who spent much of last year corroborating Dr. Rodchenkov’s testimony on Russia’s government-sponsored doping programs — stated in late 2016 that it was impossible to determine how far back the country’s doping plans stretched. McLaren provided evidence directly involving a deputy sports minister and an anti-doping adviser to the ministry, both of whom were terminated last summer. Dr. Rodchenkov resigned from Russia’s anti-doping laboratory in November 2015 and has been living in an unknown location in the United States, where a separate federal investigation into Russia’s athletic cheating is being carried out.

Earlier this month, the Kremlin ordered that Russia adopt the recommendations of a national anti-doping commission appointed by Putin. The commission aimed at reinstating the country’s anti-doping agencies, testing lab and professional athletes to proper standing.

“We saw on the one hand the president of Russia saying, ‘Yes we had this problem, we have to admit this,’” Bach said, referring to general apologies from Mr. Putin, who has denied allegations of government-sponsored doping. “You have on the other side some government officials or parliamentarians trying to ignore everything.”

Bach is set to meet with U.S. President Donald J. Trump at the White House on Thursday in order to discuss Los Angeles’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics.

Mr. Trump has voiced his support for the bid, although he and Bach have never met in person.

Besides Los Angeles, Paris is the only other city that remains a top contender to host the 2024 Summer Games. Many other cities have withdrawn their bids to host those Olympics.

Earlier this month, Bach and other Olympic officials approved a proposal to award both the 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously. Thus, L.A. and Paris could each win one of the two hosting opportunities.

Bach also revealed on Tuesday that the Olympics had recently decided drop longtime American sponsor McDonald’s. The IOC head also discussed the organization’s decision to add new competitions like surfing and skateboarding to the Olympics, in order to appeal to younger sports fans.

SOCHI, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 23: Gold medalist Alexander Legkov of Russia celebrates in the medal ceremony for the Men’s 50 km Mass Start Free during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium on February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)