Olympics: Russia Cheats

Reporting from CNN, “A drugs test controversy that has overshadowed Beijing 2022 is set to rumble on after the Winter Olympics finishes. For now, teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva has won a temporary reprieve — the 15-year-old gets to compete in the women’s single skating competition on Tuesday. … On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Valieva can compete for the remainder of this year’s Winter Games, despite testing positive for a prohibited substance ahead of Beijing 2022. … The head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Travis Tygart says Russia has ‘hijacked the competition’ and ‘stolen the moment from clean athletes’ for the ‘sixth consecutive Olympic Games’ after CAS rejected appeals to reinstate a provisional ban on Valieva.”

What else is new? It wouldn’t be the Olympics if Russian athletics did not get caught cheating. Of course, it would also not be the Olympics if the governing bodies of sports did not somehow find a way to allow Russian competitors to continue performing despite failing drug tests. I hope people realize that Russia as a nation has been banned from three Olympics, Beijing being the most recent. Consequently, Russian athletes are allowed to compete only under a neutral banner — Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) — and, naturally, they’re allowed to continue to cheat because nations keep letting them get away with it. Russia has a long history of doping its athletes, so this is not surprising. The entire country is a nation of cheaters and liars — from Putin to athletes. I’m sorry for athletes who had the misfortune of being born in Russia, but they should not be allowed to compete — ever!