Three-time Olympic medalist Dmitry Volkov believes that in spite of the International Olympic Committee ruling today that defending 100 breaststroke World Champion Yulia Efimova would compete in Rio.
The IOC announced today that while it was not placing a full-bore suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee that any Russian athletes who have ever been sanctioned for a doping violation would be barred from competing in Rio.
Voklov has been honored by Russia with the title Honored Master of Sports and is the editor-in-chief of a Russian industry magazine called “Swimming.” He’s also a member of the Presidium for the Moscow region’s swimming (similar to an LSC Board of Directors in the United States).
Volkov won three medals as a breaststroker in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games and has been quoted today by Sports.Ru as saying (translated from Russian) “The right to decide on participation in the Olympics has been given to the international federations.
So, FINA is our partner in many projects and its leadership are our good comrades….Their opinions about what is happening is well known. Their loyalty we should expect. Their opinion is as follows: Yulia Efimova will take part in the Olympics. I have confidence in this.”
FINA has not released a statement on the issue and has not responded to several requests for comment this week.
Prior to the McLaren report, released last week, that showed a regime of state-sponsored doping corruption in Rio, though, FINA did release a statement citing “concern” for calls to ban Russia wholesale by American and Canadian anti-doping authorities. A few days prior to that, FINA officials traveled to Russia to commend the Russian Federation on their fight against doping and to discuss future partnerships between the two.
Efimova is one of four swimmers on the Olympic roster who have previously been involved in anti-doping proceedings. While the IOC today did release a statement saying that international federations (IFs) like FINA would be in charge of setting the standard by which Russian athletes would have to prove that they aren’t doping, they also unequivocally stated that “the (Russian Olympic Committee) is not allowed to enter any athlete for the Olympic Games…who has ever been sanctioned for doping, even if he or she has served the sanction.”
The directive about no prior offenders participating in Rio was presented outside of the jurisdiction of International Federations, and says that the IOC will not accept any Russian entries to the Olympics that do not meet that standard.
Efimova was suspended in 2013 for 16 months after a positive doping test.
As soon as Bach announced IOC decision regarding Russia, both Julio and Cornel were on the phone with Putin,
“You are not mad at us, aren’t you Vlad?
Please don’t be angry with us
Remember we gave you our top honor last year? We’ll give you another one, an even better one, if you promise you’re not mad.
And don’t get stressed out with this doping technicalities blah blah.. it bores us as well
we’ll do our best to get your darling Yuliya to swim in Rio.”
After a moment of pause…
“By the way, those cans of beluga golden caviar that you sent us last week was DELISH!!!
We threw a party and served those
Everyone was RAVING about it
We certainly won’t refuse if you fedex us another package..”
speaking in more concerned tone..
“Vlad darling, ummmm… please don’t take this personally… but can you please recall home those guys in black suits and back cars who keep following us day and night?
Our wives aren’t too happy about that..”
“A few days prior to that, FINA officials traveled to Russia to commend the Russian Federation on their fight against doping and to discuss future partnerships between the two.”
Seriously? It’s like the justice department commending OJ Simpson for a successful marriage…
FINA gave Putin the highest top honor last year.
FINA never did the right thing about the East German doping scandal that was a vast injustice to the US women swimmers in the 1976 Games in Montreal. If FINA does it again with the Russian doping scandal, I think we should all get behind an effort to replace FINA as the world swimming authority.
You’re right.
This might well end the Ruling of FiNA , just after the fiasco …..lets see how athletes respond on the ground
Its called the world swimming association.
The World Swim Association? You mean the joint effort between ASCA (John Leonard, who’s in bed with USA Swimming, and ASCA, who needs 8 months to decide if a coach abusing children is enough to remove him from their Hall of Fame, and who spent a ton of his membership’s money not to find out if USRPT worked, but to smear USRPT for going against the practices recommended financially by ASCA) and Craig Lord (who’s basically throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get chosen as the FINA chief in charge of media when the job was open a few years back)? I read all I needed to about the “World Swim Association” when I saw Craig write that “like so… Read more »
What’s your suggestion then?
Yeah that’s the one. For an organization the only exists on paper they sure have been active lol. Why u so butthurt?
What studies on USRPT are you mentioning? Thanks
what about russian loyalty to fair sports?
has that ever been a thing?
no matter your feelings re Yulia.. she has sure been through an ordeal here
which she brought on herself all on her own…
Exactly well said
Comrade your family is in good health? Good lets keep it that way.
Even the athletes know FINA and The Russians are in bed together. This whole ugly mess is just sickening. At some point someone needs to grow a pair and just say enough is enough. NO you may not come to the Olympics.
Well, I was 100% wrong about the IOC doing the right thing. Giving FINA any credit would be foolish at this point. Yulia is their golden goose and best hope for individual Olympic gold. This would be so sickening yet not surprising all at once.