Biathlet Erik Lesser has made harsh criticism at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its President Thomas Bach at the end of the winter games in China.
“I’m just disappointed that Thomas Bach knows critical demands just wiped away so,” Lesser said the deutschlandfunkt: “That the Olympic Games are unpolitical, that’s utter nonsense.”
Anyone who has followed the games in Beijing, “the last three weeks, who knows exactly that Olympic games are not unpolitical. And that you still get a lie further, I can not understand that at all President with a tidy backbone wished that you are already a few more critical tones towards Chinese government. “
Later, who last had already expressed a little enthusiastic about the event, nevertheless regrets his participation. “Because there is the opportunity to tell me in retrospect,” said the 33-year-old. So he’ll be able to say in 50 years: “People, no matter what came, Beijing was getting worse.”
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Although the competitions had Olympic character, “but the human has completely missed. Everything was made out of the test tube,” Lesser said. “China is definitely very glad that there is Corona, then you can push many things on it. Without Covid maybe a few trips would have been possible to tourist attractions,” but only that was made visible what you really wanted to show.
In doping swirls around wunderkind Kamila Valieva at the Olympics, the sports judge will now decide in summary proceedings. The International Olympic Committee will not accept that a provisional suspension of the 15-year-olds was abolished by Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency after winning the team gold medal. On behalf of the IOC, the International Testing Agency (Ita) appealed on the merits. “We want to accelerate as much as possible,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams on Friday. The World Anti-Doping Agency WADA takes action against the decision. Now the International Sport Court CAS is on the train.
According to the Ita Valieva was tested on 25 December 2021 at the Russian Championships beneficial to the heart means trimetazidine. But the finding was the Rusada allegedly only on 8 February before, had already ended when the Olympic team competition. Then Valieva was first suspended for the time being.
Rusada lifted the suspension on Wednesday
However, the Disciplinary Committee of the Rusada raised on February 9, following appeal by Valieva the suspension again and clearing the way for another Olympic Green Light. The IOC wants to seek clarification before Cas on 15 February before the start of the short program in the women’s singles in Beijing.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) does not consider this action to be legal. “One tested positive athletes doping control does not apply to the period of the Olympic Games,” it said in a statement ROC. Doping tests at Valieva at the European Championships in January and at the Beijing games were negative. They would “honestly won Olympic gold medal” fight.
IOC warns of “wild speculations”
had begun the vertebrae, had canceled as the Olympic makers actually planned for Tuesday medal ceremony for the team competition without giving further reasons. “These cases are not helpful for the games,” conceded IOC spokesman Adams. But he warned against “wild speculation” in the matter, especially since Valieva was underage. “Legal cases can be very difficult, but it is very important that people get full justice,” said Adams.
Russian athletes are in Beijing especially under observation. The country is locked as with the Summer Games in Tokyo because of the scandal at state-organized doping and the cover-up of sporting fraud. The Russian athletes allowed to compete only as a representative of the ROC. At award ceremonies the Russian anthem is not played and the flag can not be hoisted.
“We have tough but appropriate penalties imposed,” Adams said the question of whether the IOC would have harder against Russia to proceed. There must be no collective punishment. In the case Valieva the IOC working “as fast as it comes under the circumstances,” said Adams.
In January European champion
The Super Talent Valieva is one of the most prominent faces among the Russian athletes at the Winter Games. Only this season she made her debut in the adult, in January she took the European title. In the Olympic team competition she won the women’s freestyle by a clear margin. On Friday she trained again on the ice surface of the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing to prepare for the Olympic women’s singles.
Through the media reports on the case, the Ita to a detailed notification was forced, though Valieva have to be considered as minors under the World Anti-Doping Code as a “protected person”. She had given her positive doping test before the Winter Games, the matter was not initially fell within the jurisdiction of Ita and the IOC, it said.
remains open if the medal ceremony for the team competition can be clarified before the end of this Winter Games on February 20. Behind Russia, the United States had won silver and bronze went to Japan. The scheduled for Tuesday medals ceremony had been postponed at short notice because of the Fall Valieva.
