2016 Rio Olympics: Several Athletes Could Get Banned After Retesting of Doping Samples
Up to 31 sportsmen from six different events are almost certain to be barred from participating.
The 2016 Rio Olympics is drawing near but the concerns on the Zika virus hasn't faded, with more and more athletes expressing concern about getting exposed to it. But this time, another adverse issue is coming Brazil's way as Olympic officials announced the retesting of hundreds of doping samples from the previous Games held in Beijing.
Why should this be a concern for several athletes slated to compete in this year's Olympics? Well, retesting the samples means one thing – that some of these athletes may find themselves banned from competing in Rio.
In fact, BBC reports that up to 31 sportsmen from six different events are almost certain to be barred from participating. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that a total of 454 samples have already been retested using the latest methods of analysis available. Likewise, the committee also said that they are waiting for the results of 250 other samples from the most recent Olympics in London.
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IOC President Thomas Bach had some strong words for dopers who may have thought they escaped penalty from their previous stints in the world's biggest sporting stage. "All these measures are a powerful strike against the cheats we do not allow to win… dopers have no place to hide," he said.
The decision to do the retests came right after a compelling expose by Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov in an interview with The New York Times. He claimed that several Russian athletes doped right before the start of the Beijing Games in 2008 and continued to the 2012 London edition, up to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
The reason, according to Rodchenkov, why they weren't discovered was because Russia controlled the testing lab. Although it is easy to dismiss such an allegation, it must be noted that Rodchenkov formerly served as director for that same anti-doping lab in Russia.
If the retesting process yields positive results, it could be interesting to see which countries and personalities will take the biggest hit. But whatever the outcome is, this edition of the Olympics is getting the wrong kind of publicity even before the games begin.
