Travis Tygart, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief, says Russia has only been emboldened by previous sanctions for its doping violations and the four-year ban imposed on Monday will do nothing to change its behavior. Russia was banned from the world’s top sporting events for four years on Monday, including the next Summer and Winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup, for tampering with doping test data. WADA’s move does leave the door open for “clean” Russian athletes to compete as individuals in Tokyo without their flag or anthem, a decision Tygart has described as “yet another devastating blow to clean athletes.”“Their behavior hasn’t changed,” he told Reuters in an interview. “It has only gotten emboldened and become more egregious every time the global anti-doping community attempts to put a sanction in place. Monday’s sanctions, which also include a four-year ban on Russia hosting major sporting events, were recommended by WADA’s compliance review committee in response to the doctored laboratory data provided by Moscow this year.

Source: National Post December 10, 2019 05:37 UTC