Can't imagine if this was 2014.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...b49790-d9d4-11e7-b859-fb0995360725_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...b49790-d9d4-11e7-b859-fb0995360725_story.html
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Russia banned from 2018 Olympics.
- Thread starter KingGrump
- Start date
Good.
A little hypocritical quite frankly...stinks quite frankly..more than the typical IOC pile of pooh...
Have you seen Icarus the documentary on Russian cheating at previous games? I'm not saying PEDs aren't being used elsewhere, but that was some brazen shit going down in Sochi.
That's the whole point..it goes on in more places than Russia...the message to me is, Russia isn't playing ball with the IOC and are being punished. China? Seriously? Good on them, but I see this as the IOC covering their ass and still allowing the athletes to compete..
How do you know who is clean?? Not being troublesome, just really, how do you know? Because they say so? Because they have clean tests? Are athletes who test clean really clean? I mean this has been beaten to death...I'm not sure any favourites are clean..
Yes, of course we have, and that's the point. Since the events covered at the end of that film we have had years of political waffling by WADA, by FIS, by CAS over what is and what isn't sufficient evidence, over individual suspensions, over reinstatements 'Oh, it was Special Circumstances, you know?'. Years of a shambolic pseudo-justice circus.
And now this. This is nothing more than the IOC mob sticking their tongues out at Putin's mob and jeering "We're tougher than you are".
Consistent enforcement from now on? Bwahahahahaha.
Publicity stunt for the IOC mobsters to gain an iota of credibility in as more and countries rightly decide they want nothing to do with the Olympics? Absolutely.
The Olympics are stupid anyway, corruption on par with international soccer and the UN.
Sorry bud, nothing, nothing, nothing is as corrupt as FIFA.
So, we'll see Aleksandr Khoroshilov racing in the SL. Competing as an athlete from Russia...sort of. Not sure how much time he spends "at home", but since Putin loves skiing, he's probably quite well funded.
Very sad to think about how the IOC has "grown" over the years. This move of poking the bear may prove to not be that smart in the long run. Lots of chest thumping. So what else is new?
I assume that we have more than a few "enhanced" alpine racers, and a whole bunch of XC skiers, on the WC. Why would you assume not?
Not sure that we have many/any in the USA, though.
Very sad to think about how the IOC has "grown" over the years. This move of poking the bear may prove to not be that smart in the long run. Lots of chest thumping. So what else is new?
I assume that we have more than a few "enhanced" alpine racers, and a whole bunch of XC skiers, on the WC. Why would you assume not?
Not sure that we have many/any in the USA, though.
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There is run of the mill doping, and then there is Russia. They are so far into the concept that they simply have not been able to even try to clean it up, just have tried harder to get away with it.
I have a friend in WADA. The Russians raided that persons hotel room during a meeting in Switzerland, went through the laptop they found there etc. We are far better off without them.
My favorite Russia dope story: An athlete had a congenital issue with his Achilles tendons, and had long scars on the back of his legs from surgery. Some Russians asked him about it, and he said the doctors grafted reindeer tendons into his legs to make him faster. The Russians couldn't even see the joke, just wondered why their doctors had not done the same for them.
I have a friend in WADA. The Russians raided that persons hotel room during a meeting in Switzerland, went through the laptop they found there etc. We are far better off without them.
My favorite Russia dope story: An athlete had a congenital issue with his Achilles tendons, and had long scars on the back of his legs from surgery. Some Russians asked him about it, and he said the doctors grafted reindeer tendons into his legs to make him faster. The Russians couldn't even see the joke, just wondered why their doctors had not done the same for them.
Athletes who can “prove they are innocent” can compete. I think we should apply this criterion across the board. I hereby accept the position of “Innocence Czar” with all the powers, authority and financial ambition pertaining thereto.
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One can only go off testing by non-corrupt testing bodies....
If they test clean under proper guidelines and testing standards they are clean.
Sure we can debate other things but that debate is less about the rules and about the effectiveness of the testing standard. Until there is better it’s all we have.
Which means, really, we have nothing.
Depends on if you are optimistic or pessimistic.
I prefer to give all athletes the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Opting to enjoy and marvel at the athletic feat I am fortunate enough to witness.
Sport would not be nearly as enjoyable to me if constantly viewed through an “all athletes dope” lens.
A pessimist would say the feats we marvel and discuss in length about LV, Shriffin, Hischer, Gut, etc. are tainted as we cannot be 100% sure those athletes are clean. Nobody here can say for certainty they are.
However what we do know is none of those athletes have tested positive for any performance enhancing drugs and I for one take that at face value and will happily believe they are racing clean until testing proves otherwise.
I admire your optimism! 
I however have watched cyclists lie for 30 years..
I however have watched cyclists lie for 30 years..
I think I could find a way to enjoy it - and Icarus* really, really did a great job at pointing out how.
Q: What is the one thing both the Russians in Calgary and Bryan Fogel's experience at the Haute Route showed us?
A: Doping or not, you still have to do the work, and the prep, and the logistics and the mental games just right or you have nothing at all!
They also made a fair secondary point - if those things were at all easy, Sochi wouldn't have been the flagrant sh*tshow it was.
EDIT: Wonder how much Willier Triestina and Assos liked having their logos plastered over that little documentary
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It's a discussion, regarding alpine skiing, that I would simply prefer not to have, either. None of our recent WC group has tested positive, that we know of. Therefore, defacto clean.
Realistic or not. Just not worth the conversation, IMO.
It's hard enough to watch so many other sports, where the supposition is that many of the competitors are "dirty," based on the history and the assumption is that you can't be competitive if you're clean. So we wait for them to clean up.
Yes, decades, actually a 60+ lifetime of watching cycling and other endurance sports does make me a bit of a cynic.
Realistic or not. Just not worth the conversation, IMO.
It's hard enough to watch so many other sports, where the supposition is that many of the competitors are "dirty," based on the history and the assumption is that you can't be competitive if you're clean. So we wait for them to clean up.
Yes, decades, actually a 60+ lifetime of watching cycling and other endurance sports does make me a bit of a cynic.
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