Russia’s Olympic ban will scare drug cheats, says Bolt

Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

 The ban on Russia’s track and field athletes from the Rio Olympic Games will scare drug cheats and help clean up the sport, Jamaica’s six-time Olympic gold medallist, Usain Bolt has said.
The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday rejected Russia’s appeal against a doping ban for its entire athletics team from next month’s Games.
The ban on Russia’s track and field team going to Rio was imposed last November by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) after an independent report uncovered rampant state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics.
It was maintained in June after the IAAF Council ruled that not enough progress had been made in transforming Russia’s anti-doping programme.
“This will scare a lot of people and send a strong message that the sport is serious about cleaning up.

“If you have the proof and you catch somebody, I definitely feel you should take action,’’ Bolt told British media.
Russia won the third biggest overall medal haul at the London Olympics in 2012.
The decision by CAS, sport’s highest tribunal, increases the possibility that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will now exclude Russia from all sports, not just track and field, in Rio de Janeiro.
“If they feel like banning the whole team, it’s the right action, then I am all for it.
“Rules are rules and doping violations in track and field are getting really bad, so thumbs up,’’ Bolt said.
Bolt was named in the Jamaican Olympic team in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m races despite an injury that kept him from qualifying at trials.
He is confident that he will be fully fit before Rio.
“My hamstring is good. I have no issue right now.
“I had a strain. If I’d competed, I probably would have torn my hamstring really bad, but I was never really worried. I know I’m in good shape.’’ 

(Reuters/NAN)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

El-Rufai’s Son Killed In Auto Crash

Image
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has lost one of his sons in a car crash. Hamza El-Rufai died Tuesday morning in Abuja. The former Minister and Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, broke the news on his faceboook page today. El-Rufai wrote: “From Allah, we came and to Him we shall return. Please join our family in praying for the repose of the soul of my son, Hamza El-Rufai who died in a motor accident in Abuja.” See more photo below:
Read more

President Jonathan, Wife, Gov Dickson Pay Tributes To Deceased Bayelsa Female Politicians, As They Are Laid To Rest In Yenagoa

Image
The remains of the female politicians, who died in a ghastly auto accident have been laid to rest at the Bayelsa State cemetery, Azikoro in Yenagoa, the state capital. President Goodluck Jonathan his wife, Dame Patience and the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson as well as wives of the Anambra and Ekiti State Governors joined other sympathizers at a special memorial service in honour of the deceased women at the Dr. Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, in Yenagoa.
Read more

Atiku: I Did’t Join APC to Contest for Presidency

Image
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he did not join the All Progressive Congress (APC) so as to run for the Presidency in 2015,  but to nurture the party and ensure that good governance is entrenched in Nigeria  come 2015. Atiku who spoke in an interview with the BBC Hausa service, monitored in Kaduna on Monday,  maintained that if it were because of a  presidential ambition, he had clear chances of occupying the number one seat when he was in office with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, or even recently when he was in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN ). He  said   he let that go in the interest of the nation. Atiku   vowed that he would never return to the PDP, saying that from all indications, the party would no longer be what it used to be.
Read more