There is a little more than seven months left before the opening of the 2020 Olympics, and, once again, Russia is bracing for yet another potentially severe punishment after yet another accusation of state-sponsored, performance-enhancing, sports-tainting doping malfeasance. The most serious of those penalties: a four-year ban from global sports for Russian athletes and teams. For the better part of a decade, drama linked to Russia’s broad doping apparatus has cast a dark shadow of doubt over some of the world’s biggest sports competitions. Every time it feels as if the scandal might wane, it starts up again. For some people, then, the swift stream of accusations, investigations and denials has coalesced into a single, sludgy blur.

Source: International New York Times December 08, 2019 17:48 UTC