Few tears for Russia
This was inevitable, given the tactics of obstruction and obfuscation which dope testers have encountered from Russian officials in the course of the past six months or more.
It would be an absolute travesty of justice if Olympic officials were next week to give Russia and its athletes a special dispensation, thus allowing them to compete at the games in Rio.
If that happens, and it might well, it would literally make a mockery of sport and what the Olympics are supposed to represent, as the ultimate sporting event.
It would also send out the wrong kind of message to young people, concealing the cynicism of doping and telling a jaundiced world where clean athletes are revered, and rightly so, that it’s OK to cheat. On the contrary, not only should Russia be banned, it deserves to be despised.
