Today, as if to confirm Vladimir Putin's words about the doping scandal being stirred up for political purposes, Russian athletes were attacked again. Several Russian skiers were banned for life from the Olympics. And Russia lost two more medals from the Olympics in Sochi. Anton Lyadov — on why Russian athletes are robbed of their medals and Olympic hopes again.
As soon as skier Aleksey Petukhov heard the news about the ban, he posted online a photo of children with the caption: "How do I explain to these boys the decision of the IOC? This is a violation of all human rights. This is the warpath that we have to win".
A new decision of the international organization to ban 4 Russian skiers for life and to take away their Sochi Olympics medals has already been called a slap in Russia's face.
Sergey Kriyanin: "The IOC does not care much about the arguments and facts given by our athletes proving they didn't use any prohibited drugs. It's splitting up the Olympic movement. What was this movement created for? To unite all nations. And what we get is the opposite".
Maxim Vylegzhanin won a medal in the 50 km race.
Maxim Vylegzhanin, World Ski Champion: "The ban is illegal, I think. They have no grounds, they have no proof that we did something wrong. It's all based on one McLaren report that mentions my name".
An important detail: the medal still remains in Russia, with Ilia Chernousov. But the second result of the race now belongs to Martin Sundby from Norway, the same athlete who in 2016 received a two-month ban for an extra high level of a breathing medication in his blood.
Dmitry Guberniev, Sports Commentator: "There's belief in our ski athletes, which was reborn after the great traditions of the Soviet Union, when these amazing guys started winning. The whole country has this belief, but someone wants to kill, to trample this belief. I am outraged. I believe that the accusations both against the four athletes today and Legkov and Belov are simply cooked up. This is a strange frame-up, and I think everyone knows who's responsible for it".
Dmitry Svishchev, Russian Curling Federation: "This pressure from overseas, which can be regarded as an official position of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, is, of course, unacceptable".
American TV networks instantly jumped at the news. Reporting on the ban, ABC News showed a year-old pseudo-sensational story, with Russia allegedly acknowledging that doping was supported at the state level. This report, originally published in the New York Times, was rebutted last December, but who cares? Three days ago, the same newspaper published a provocative headline, "No Russian Anthem at Olympics?"
The IOC called these statements a speculation, but the fake news was successful at turning a sports story into a political one.
Svetlana Zhurova, Member of State Duma: "You can just pull the strings called sports, ban some people, blame others with no grounds— and the society is already split. Parents start thinking whether their children need sports".
The Russian side remains adamant.
Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports: "If we are talking about our national team performing either under a neutral flag or without a flag, without an anthem, of course, it's impossible to imagine".
Today the IOC Disciplinary Commission also closed the case of Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova. The question of who would compensate the athlete for the nerves and contracts that she lost due to false accusations, is still unanswered.
Anton Lyadov, Anna Kolk Vesti
