Russia Targets Athletes Who Haven't Returned Olympic Medals

(ATR) The All-Russian Athletics Federation is cracking down on athletes who are refusing to return their medals in Olympic doping cases.

The Russian track federation said in a statement on Thursday that athletes who don’t return medals because of failed retests of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Games won’t be allowed to compete in its sports events and won’t be eligible for national teams.

In addition, ARAF says the athletes in violation of the rules would not be included in the drug- testing pools. Athletes looking to compete as neutrals in the event that Russia’s suspension from the IAAF is not lifted need the pools to prove they are clean and thus eligible to participate as neutrals.

The federation is making it clear that the penalties for not returning medals is part of an effort to get reinstated by the IAAF. Only one Russian track and field athlete competed in Rio 2016 because of the IAAF suspension put into place in November 2015 for widespread doping.

"Disregarding the rules of the Olympic Charter and the IOC by failing to return the medals is making a negative impact on the recovery process," ARAF said in a statement.

So far, only one of the 23 medals which must be returned has been handed back. ARAF applauded Anton Kokorin for returning his bronze medal from the 4x400m relay in Beijing. Kokorin did not test positive but his teammate Denis Alexeyev’s disqualification for a banned steroid means the entire relay team must return the medals.

The Federation also says that in the coming days there will a number of measures announced to promote "clean sport", intolerance of doping and strict compliance with anti-doping rules.

Nesta Carter Files Appeal with CAS

Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter is appealing his doping penalty to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Carter tested positive for a banned stimulant in retesting from the 2008 Games in Beijing.

His lawyer tells Reuters that the paperwork has been filed with CAS but that a date for the appeal has not been set.

Carter was stripped of his gold medal in the 4x100m along with his teammates Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater.

The IOC ruling on Carter last month meant that Bolt's unprecedented "triple-triple" of winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in each of the last three Olympics is no longer valid. A favorable decision by CAS in the Carter case would mean Bolt gets to keep all nine of his gold medals.

Written by Gerard Farek

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