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Cheating rewards

A weekly sports column for the 100 Mile Free Press
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It looks like Santa Claus isn’t the only one who’s making a list and checking it twice.

On Feb. 1, 28 Russian athletes had their bans for doping lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“This does not mean that these 28 athletes are declared innocent, but in their case, due to insufficient evidence, the appeals are upheld, the sanctions annulled and their individual results achieved in Sochi are reinstated,” CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said.

CAS will reinstate seven medals Russian athletes had stripped from them during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, meaning athletes who competed fairly will lose out on their medals rewarded after the scandal came to light.

It seems fairly strange to me that there is insufficient evidence in a case such as doping, especially considering the 28 athletes were given a lifetime ban two months ago. These athletes will be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games if they are invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will cause a number of clean athletes competing in the biggest stage of their chosen sport a lot of grief.

Not only will they be able to compete once again, they have essentially have taken back medals from athletes who competed fairly.

For example, the Canadian luge relay team was bumped down to fourth place, losing their bronze medal after the Russian lugers had their bans lifted and their silver medals returned.

Latvia will be downgraded from silver to bronze.

“The whole situation is disturbing for our team and we believe a nightmare for clean athletes. Let me be perfectly clear: This is not clear: This is not about a medal being taken away from me or my teammates. A clean playing field is more powerful for us than a medal around our necks. ” said Sam Edney, a four-time Olympian and one of the Canadian lugers losing a medal.

At least three parties are now aggrieved by CAS’s decision. Canada has lost out on its first medal in the sport of luge, Latvia loses one of its three silver medals and Denisyev and Antonov will be forever associated with two cheaters who essentially got a jail out of free card, opposed to being two unwilling victims in Russia’s statewide doping scandal.

Of course, doping isn’t just a Russian problem, but reinstating the 28 athletes sends a message - cheaters will be tolerated and CAS and the IOC are okay with rewarding them when they get caught.