The tough decision of the IOC Executive Committee was being commented on by the sports federations and athletes themselves all day today. And, of course, the main question is whether they’ll go to Pyeongchang under the neutral flag.
The opinions of those who will make the decision are in Asya Emelyanova's report from Lausanne.
This was a quick interview, and in fact, Zhenya Medvedeva has an injury, she flew to Lausanne with a cast, but it was her words, the words of the 18-year-old girl, that were the most influential at this decisive meeting of the executive committee. They made the IOC think.
Everyone thought that the verdict was written beforehand, that the national team was going to be disqualified, and that the speeches of Zhenya, Alexander Zhukov, Vitaly Smirnov were for nothing.
Vitaly Smirnov, Honorary Member of the IOC: "We said what we felt was necessary to say. Then, we had to wait for a long time, almost two and a half hours, even three. After that, the president invited us personally. The decision of the IOC Executive Committee was brought to our attention. It was clear that the decision wasn’t easy".
30 pages of Samuel Schmid's secret report were, of course, presented personally. For a year and a half, he tried to find evidence that there was a doping system in Russia, secret rooms for replacing samples, devices for opening Swiss test tubes for doping tests, a mysterious cocktail called Duchess based on Martini, which the athletes were forced to drink by the state. All this was claimed by the WADA informer, Georgy Rodchenkov, who fled to the US two years ago. But here is page 24. The commission didn’t find any unbiased independent documented evidence. It means zero, only words.
- You received a report the day before. We didn’t expect this. We thought you’d see it in the hall. Were you scared when you saw the report?
Alexander Zhukov, Russian Olympic Committee President: "Listen, I haven’t been afraid of anything for a long time. This Schmid’s report, Schmid commission’s report, as I believe, is much more objective than those we read before. He seriously criticized McLaren’s report about thousands of Russian athletes, he said that this data wasn't confirmed. This is the first point. The second one is that it was quite clearly stated that there is and was no state system of doping support in Russia".
Some words. No facts. The honorable representative of the IOC, Jean-Claude Killy, says that there’s no evidence in the scandalous McLaren’s report. There’s no reason to take away the flag.
But Russia was punished: there were violations, there were scams. The Olympic Committee’s expulsion is rare in the history of the IOC, but it’s the only tool that can punish only officials, not athletes. So, athletes and teams remained with the right to go to the Olympics. In white uniform, under the Olympic flag.
And most importantly, of course, is that this won’t happen. Zhenya Medvedeva spoke about this in Lausanne, what it means to see the flag next to the name, to listen to the anthem, standing on the podium. She has two gold medals of a world champion, the Olympics was to be her first, her dream.
Half of the team has the same feelings. Just look at the faces of our athletes in Davos. Here they’re at the training camp, listening to Thomas Bach’s speech.
They were shocked, says the ski racing coach, Yuri Borodavko.
Yuri Borodavko: "It’s very hard for them. All the athletes are really worried".
On the closing day of the Games, all restrictions will be lifted, the IOC promises but does not guarantee that our team will be able to walk through the stadium with the flag. Will it be enough for our athletes who were preparing to represent the country for 4 years and wanted to hear the anthem?
Irina Rodnina, three-time figure skating Olympic champion: "This should be the decision of the athletes themselves. This is what, perhaps, distinguishes the Olympians, that in the first place, they’re fighting for the flag, it shows and emphasizes everything that they aspired to, and even more."
Sports that not only unite but force everyone to argue. But, of course, it’ll be up to the Olympians, the athletes from Russia, that’s how they’ll be allowed to be called by the IOC in Korea.
On December 12, at the Olympic meeting, they’ll discuss all the pros and cons.
Yelena Isinbaeva, two-time pole vaulting Olympic champion: "They'll perform as Olympic athletes from Russia. They won’t be neutral athletes, they’ll be the Olympic athletes from Russia. This will be the identification 100%."
Alexey Voyevoda, two-time bobsleigh Olympic champion: "We need to think whether we should even participate in such an Olympic movement at all. The Olympic movement of the past can’t be taken back. The principle of sport and peace is no longer working. The principles are gone."
If the Olympians decide to go to Pyeongchang, they won’t have an easy life. In two years, our athletes passed tests twice as often as everyone else. Three samples per day, Russian athletes were visited by the commissioners of several agencies. It made them nervous, it was psychological pressure.
Said Gireyev, Russian national wrestling team doctor: "The attitude was originally that we were already guilty. Doping officers arrived at the base at four in the morning, at five in the morning, with the demand to wake them up at this time. Why would they torture people when they have a regime and can’t go anywhere? I asked them to wait, said that at 6-7 a.m. the athletes would wake up. The people who represented WADA were professionally illiterate. I don’t know how they were recruited because they didn’t understand the most simple reasons because they weren’t doctors, not even paramedics".
The lists submitted by Russia, in case of a positive decision by the IOC, will be checked under a magnifying glass. A special commission was created, it was headed by the ex-Minister of Sports of France, Ms. Fourneyron. A crystal clear biography and no doping in the past were the main requirements, no disqualification. The same applies to doctors and coaches.
The IOC’s verdict isn’t an order. It can be followed, but the ones to make the decision are the Olympians, the athletes from Russia, as it was suggested to call them so. They’ll decide whether they’ll go to South Korea without the hymn and the flag, whether they’re ready to listen to the Olympic anthem, and not the Russian one, standing on the podium.
Asya Emelyanova, Ivan Malyshev, Vesti, Lausanne, Switzerland.
