Doping magnet

For the better part of two decades, the All-Russian Athletic Federation (ARAF) has been continuously under scrutiny and investigation for athlete doping. Unfortunately, we can trace Russian attempts to gain the upper hand unfairly as far back as the early 1980s Soviet Union.

It’s been exactly four years since the Russian Federation was cuffed and banned from international competition for countrywide, “state-sponsored” doping and tampering charges. Since then, only a handful of their elite athletes have been able to compete, all of whom bare no signet of the Russian flag — they must do so as independent athletes. Just one (Darya Klishina) of the 68 track and field athletes that qualified, was allowed to compete at the Olympic Games in 2016.

It was alleged that 99% of the country’s athletes were at one time playing outside the rules and under the explicit direction of the governing body themselves. While I feel bad for those Russian athletes who truly do compete within the rules, you can’t help but wonder in today’s age, if they too are simply ahead of the curve or not getting caught.

Just a few days ago, as the country had been slowly getting closer to reinstatement, it was announced that Russia was once more under attack for medical records tampering. This time, not only potentially keeping them from another Olympic Games, but facing complete expulsion from the Athletics Federation.

Recent charges

On Thursday, the president of Russia’s track and field federation, Dmitry Shlyakhtin, and six others were suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit. These charges are in relation to Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko’s falsified medical records and missed drug tests.

*UPDATE*
As of Saturday, November 23rd, Dmitry Shlyakhtin has removed himself from the Russian federation after calling an emergency meeting.

The other suspensions are on Lysenko and his coach Evgeny Zagorulko, and four senior officials including the anti-doping coordinator herself, Elena Ikonnikova. Executive director Alexander Parkin, head of the Federation's department for sports programs Elena Orlova, and board member Artur Karamyan were the three others to be suspended in the investigation.

What now

Nothing officially has been announced as to Russia’s ability to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As a rule, they may still be allowed to send athletes that qualify without posting negative samples, but as independent athletes under the Olympic flag.

The implications of this most recent case could very well lead to ARAF being removed from the World Athletics Federation completely and unable to participate in world events from here on out. I’m uncertain as to how that may unfold, but this is another shit smear on the face of international track and field. For many, it could be one step closer to losing the sport altogether, as there’s already very little trust from athletes, coaches, officials, and fans. In order to save the sport and bring it into a more viable international viewing success, things like this must stop.

We’ll continue to keep this post updated as more news becomes available.