By Jacob Prall
Russia — what a success story at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. They took home more medals than any other country, an incredible feat. And it would have been all the more impressive if the Russian government hadn’t given its athletes steroid cocktails.
Last year, a former Russian official admitted to running a massive, state-sponsored doping system for Russia’s Olympic athletes. Up until now, it’s been an accusation backed by some whistleblowers but mostly hearsay. The World Anti-Doping Agency released a report last week corroborating the doping narrative.
The Russian equivalent of the FBI and CIA was instrumental in the program. Picture a world in which the CIA and FBI give Michael Phelps a strict diet of steroids and swap out his urine samples. Multiply that by a few hundred, and you get the idea.
The International Olympic Committee promptly decided not to ban Russia from the Rio games; before you get out your pitchforks, hear it out. Individual sport federations have to decide on their own whether a Russian can compete if said Russian undergoes strict doping tests and regulations.
The case-by-case strategy won’t please everyone, which the IOC President Thomas Bach knows. He shed some light on the decision for CNN: “This is about doing justice to clean athletes all over the world. In this way, we protect these clean athletes.”
Bach has a fair point, and some sanction is better than no sanction. on Monday alone, seven Russian swimmers were disqualified. Each federation is likely to reject many Russian athletes.
What’s more concerning is that without a full ban, Russia still has a spot at the Olympics. It still gets to have its flag raised with the rest. If tampering with evidence and drugging your citizenry doesn’t get you barred from an Olympic or two, what does?
Of course, the Russian government isn’t just playing dirty in sports. CNN reported on federal investigations that point to Russian infiltration of the Democratic National Convention email accounts.
The Russian hackers were thrown out of the system after a full year on board, plenty of time to collect as much as they needed. The divisive timing and nature of the email leak is suspicious enough for the Clinton camp to announce that they believe Russia gave the emails to WikiLeaks. Their goal, Clinton’s campaign has stated, is to strengthen the position of one Donald Trump. This wouldn’t be the first time Russia has covertly supported the far right in a country; it does it all the time in Europe.
Trump says the accusations are a “joke,” and maybe he’s right. There is no question, however, that Russian President Vladimir Putin fully supports Trump. Putin has expressed approval of Trump. And Trump praises Putin, the global bully and threat to world peace, consistently.
Trump also doesn’t think NATO should involve itself with troubling movements in Eastern Europe, and he has threatened to withdraw military support from our allies if they don’t “pay their fair share.” You can just see Russian government officials wringing their hands and licking their lips. Trump’s almost too good to be true.
As we continue into the 21st century, some world powers are determined to see another Cold War. Whether the emails were leaked by Russia or not, Trump is wrong to praise Putin for anything. The man runs a totalitarian society complete with state-controlled media and secret police. There’s no doubt that Putin was an architect of the massive doping strategy.
It’s not surprising that Trump supports Russia’s bully of a president and cheating government, just disappointing.
