RussiaB次元官网网址檚 desperate attempt to get 45 banned athletes B次元官网网址� including several medal favourites B次元官网网址� into the Pyeongchang Olympics failed just hours before FridayB次元官网网址檚 opening ceremony.
The International Olympic Committee had banned Russia because of a massive doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games, but gave individual athletes the chance to apply for admission to compete as B次元官网网址淥lympic Athletes from Russia.B次元官网网址� There were 168 Russians who passed the vetting process. Dozens more filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
On Friday, the court upheld the IOCB次元官网网址檚 right to decide who can compete.
Anti-doping officials praised the ruling, which is a heavy blow to Russian medal chances.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 it. The story is over,B次元官网网址� Russian delegation spokesman Konstantin Vybornov said.
After two days of hearings, the CAS panel ruled that the commissions that evaluated whether Russian applicants were eligible did not act in a B次元官网网址渄iscriminatory, arbitrary or unfair manner.B次元官网网址�
CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb read from a statement and declined to take questions, saying the IOC process B次元官网网址渃ould not be described as a sanction but rather as an eligibility decision.B次元官网网址�
Shamil Tarpishchev, a Russian member of the IOC, said the CAS ruling may have been legally correct but he disagreed with the spirit of the ruling.
B次元官网网址淲e are fighting for the truth,B次元官网网址� he said.
The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency welcomed the decision. The IOC said the decision B次元官网网址渟upports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes.B次元官网网址�
WADA president Craig Reedie described it as B次元官网网址渁bsolutely correct.B次元官网网址�
Among those excluded are six-time gold medallist Viktor Ahn, the short track speedskater whose return to his native South Korea for the Olympics had been eagerly anticipated by local fans.
Also out are cross-country skiing gold medallist Alexander Legkov and skeleton gold medallist Alexander Tretiakov, as well as potential medal contenders in biathlon, luge and bobsled.
Three former NHL players B次元官网网址� Sergei Plotnikov, Anton Belov and Valeri Nichushkin B次元官网网址� also lost appeals, though it was widely considered unlikely they would have played even if they had been successful because the Russian roster is already full.
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart said the decision was B次元官网网址渁 small glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark and sordid affair.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淵ou hope justice has been served but how some of these athletes can keep dirty medals from Sochi but be excluded now is hard to reconcile,B次元官网网址� Tygart said. B次元官网网址淎nd why the IOC rushed the process on the Sochi medal decisions is unexplainable and a tragedy for clean athletes.B次元官网网址�
In a telephone interview, Reedie told The Associated Press: B次元官网网址淚 am delighted at the decision and the way they expressed it.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hey have quite clearly understood that there was systemic manipulation of the anti-doping process,B次元官网网址� Reedie said. B次元官网网址淎thletes can get their heads down and go. This particular issue is behind us.B次元官网网址�
The IOCB次元官网网址檚 vetting process was designed to exclude Russian athletes from the games if IOC officials werenB次元官网网址檛 sure they were clean.
The B次元官网网址淥lympic Athletes from RussiaB次元官网网址� under the Olympic flag in a decision designed to balance the rights of individual athletes with the need for a strong deterrent to doping.
As well as the 45 athletes, the ruling covers a luge coach and a skeleton coach.
The IOC has refused to comment on individual Russian athletes but says it decided who to exclude using a newly obtained Moscow laboratory database with evidence of past doping offences.
It refused to clear some Russians even after their disqualifications from the 2014 Olympics were lifted by CAS last week.
Stephen Hess, an international sports lawyer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said the decision was a victory for the IOC.
B次元官网网址淭here is no absolute right to get an invitation from the IOC to come to the Olympics,B次元官网网址� Hess said. B次元官网网址淭hat was within the IOCB次元官网网址檚 discretion. If Russia had an Olympic team, CAS might have said: B次元官网网址業OC, the Russians can put them on their own team. You canB次元官网网址檛 keep them out.B次元官网网址� But Russia doesnB次元官网网址檛 have an Olympic team.B次元官网网址�
Jim Walden, the lawyer for Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, renewed calls for IOC President Thomas Bach to resign B次元官网网址渇or the sake of the Olympic ideal.B次元官网网址�
Walden has accused the IOC and CAS of being B次元官网网址渃omplicit in enabling Russian dopingB次元官网网址� for not implementing strong punishments for Russian athletes, including a blanket ban.
FridayB次元官网网址檚 verdict, he said, is B次元官网网址渁 small semblance of justice for clean athletes.B次元官网网址�
Angela Ruggiero of the IOC athletesB次元官网网址� commission said the decision sent a message to athletes that B次元官网网址測ou should be incredibly confident that every athlete, including the Olympic Athletes from Russia, have had to clear incredibly high hurdles to get here.B次元官网网址�
The barred Russian athletes, however, are still considering their legal options.
Schellenberg Wittmer, from the Swiss law firm representing the Russian athletes, said B次元官网网址渙ur clients consider B次元官网网址� rightly so B次元官网网址� that the decisions are unfair and harmful B次元官网网址� their Olympic dreams have been shattered.B次元官网网址�
Other athletes welcomed the end to the saga.
B次元官网网址淭hat is great news,B次元官网网址� said U.S. womenB次元官网网址檚 skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender, who placed fourth in the Sochi Olympics B次元官网网址� one spot behind bronze medallist Elena Nikitina, who was one of the 45 appealing her ban.
U.S. bobsledder Nick Cunningham said B次元官网网址淚f dirty athletes are taken out, then clean athletes will prevail. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what I hope.B次元官网网址�
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AP Sports Writers Stephen Wade, Tim Reynolds and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.
James Ellingworth, The Associated Press
