Dear Mr. President,
On Friday June 17, the IAAF Council will make a transformative decision for our global athletics community when the Council meets to decide whether the Russian Athletics Federation will be reinstated to allow participation in the Rio Games. While we acknowledge some modest progress has been made in Russia, Athletics Canada feels strongly there is little evidence of a reversal in a systematic and deep rooted doping culture in Russian Athletics, and therefore there is no justification to grant re-inclusion.
We have a fundamental obligation at the IAAF and at Athletics Canada to ensure our athletes know, when they line up in Rio, that they and their competitors are competing on equal terms. Much remains to do in our sport to address the scourge of doping. We are heartened by the leadership you have shown in this area and the prominent role Canadians such as Dick Pound, Richard McLaren and Becky Scott are playing to drive meaningful change. Keeping Russia’s ban will underscore our firm resolve to protect the interests of clean athletes everywhere.
We empathize with Russia’s clean athletes who achieve their dreams through clean hard work. Unfortunately, their federation has failed them and the ongoing recent revelations of non-compliance, lack of cooperation and widespread individual doping violations from previous Olympics cause one to be sceptical about any Russian performances. We encourage the IAAF to err on the side of caution to protect the integrity of our sport and the Olympic movement.
The beauty of our sport is the simple, pure nature of running, jumping, walking and throwing. The world is watching; now is the time to send a clear message to athletes, coaches, administrators and fans everywhere that athletics is stepping up to the responsibilities associated with that brand promise.
Rob Guy
Chief Executive Officer, Athletics Canada
Cc
Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee
Abby Hoffman, IAAF Council Member
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
