Three Russian track cyclists who were barred from the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have filed legal action against the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and independent investigator Richard McLaren, claiming that they were unfairly tarnished as 'cheaters and dopers'.
Dmitry Sokolov, Kirill Sveshnikov and Dmitry Strakhov followed through on threats of legal action made last year after much of the Russian team was barred from competing in Rio following the explosive McLaren report that detailed state-sponsored doping, cover-ups of positive tests and sample switching at the Sochi Winter Games.
While the IOC refused to ban the entire Russian contingent, it did initially try to bar any athlete from the country with prior doping suspensions. The condition also applied to road cyclists Ilnur Zakarin, who in 2009 served a two-year ban for the anabolic steroid methandienone, and Olga Zabelinskaya, who served a retroactive 18-month ban for a banned stimulant octopamine.
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Zakarin chose to skip making the journey to Rio, while Zabelinskaya remained, winning her appeal of the ban in a CAS hearing under the Osaka rule, and going on to claim the silver medal in the time trial behind the USA's Kristin Armstrong.
But Sveshnikov, Strakhov and Sokolov were barred because they were under suspicion of being involved in the doping scheme detailed in the McLaren report, which included lists of athletes and their doping regimes compiled by former Moscow anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov.
The Russian team pursuit squad was left with only one rider not barred from competition, and despite an unsuccessful last-minute CAS appeal from the others, they were replaced by Italy in the track cycling competition. The three riders claim they have not been given an opportunity to answer to or defend themselves from the charges that kept them from the Games.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
Continue reading: Russian cyclists banned from Olympic Games sue WADA, McLaren for damages
Dmitry Sokolov, Kirill Sveshnikov and Dmitry Strakhov followed through on threats of legal action made last year after much of the Russian team was barred from competing in Rio following the explosive McLaren report that detailed state-sponsored doping, cover-ups of positive tests and sample switching at the Sochi Winter Games.
While the IOC refused to ban the entire Russian contingent, it did initially try to bar any athlete from the country with prior doping suspensions. The condition also applied to road cyclists Ilnur Zakarin, who in 2009 served a two-year ban for the anabolic steroid methandienone, and Olga Zabelinskaya, who served a retroactive 18-month ban for a banned stimulant octopamine.
ADVERTISEMENT
Zakarin chose to skip making the journey to Rio, while Zabelinskaya remained, winning her appeal of the ban in a CAS hearing under the Osaka rule, and going on to claim the silver medal in the time trial behind the USA's Kristin Armstrong.
But Sveshnikov, Strakhov and Sokolov were barred because they were under suspicion of being involved in the doping scheme detailed in the McLaren report, which included lists of athletes and their doping regimes compiled by former Moscow anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov.
The Russian team pursuit squad was left with only one rider not barred from competition, and despite an unsuccessful last-minute CAS appeal from the others, they were replaced by Italy in the track cycling competition. The three riders claim they have not been given an opportunity to answer to or defend themselves from the charges that kept them from the Games.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
Continue reading: Russian cyclists banned from Olympic Games sue WADA, McLaren for damages
