Russia Not Allowed to Compete in Paralympics

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RIO DE JANEIRO Paralympics officials have done what Olympics officials chose not to do, barring all Russian athletes from their Games after an elaborate cheating scheme.

The head of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, on Sunday decried Russias thirst for glory and medals over morals mentality. He called the government-coordinated cover-up of doping among Russias top disabled athletes abominable.

The committee barred the country from global competition by a unanimous vote; Paralympics officials had announced their intention to do so last month. The decision, issued Sunday, was effective immediately, Mr. Craven said.

Russias Paralympic Committee said it planned to appeal the decision within 21 days to world sports arbitration court in Switzerland.

In choosing what the Olympic committee president called the nuclear option, Paralympic officials have broken from their Olympic counterparts, who recently expressed approval, 85 to 1, of not barring all Russian athletes from the Olympics.

The Paralympic Games begin here on Sept. 7. At the last Games, hosted by Russia in Sochi, Russia had the largest delegation. The country captured a majority of the medals, winning 80. Germany, the country with the next-highest medal count, won 15.

The chemist who ran drug-testing in Sochi said he swapped out the urine of Russias top Olympians and Paralympians who were doping at those competitions. He said he did so at the direction of government officials and with help from Russias internal intelligence service. A subsequent investigation confirmed that account, producing evidence that cover-ups of illegal drug use dated to 2012, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

In choosing what the Olympic committee president called the nuclear option, Paralympic officials have very unusually broken from their Olympic counterparts, who this week expressed approval, 85 to 1, of not barring all Russian athletes from the Olympics.

Many Olympic officials said doping problems went beyond Russia. They called for broad reform and not the punishment of a single country.

Mr. Craven, however, said Sunday that Russias doping violations were unique. This situation is not about athletes cheating a system, he said, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes.

Antidoping officials who had criticized the Olympic committee for a lack of leadership in allowing a sizable Russian delegation to compete here praised Paralympic officials Sunday.

Their unanimous decision goes a long way towards inspiring us all, said Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Most importantly clean athletes.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/sports/olympics/russia-not-allowed-to-compete-in-paralympics.html