No End
Wars often end long before the shooting stops. They end when one side concludes it cannot win, when both sides accept the limits of military power, or when external actors impose a framework that neither can ignore.
Russia’s athletics federation said today it was looking into the sudden withdrawal of dozens of athletes from a race, as a report said the mystery was explained by an unexpected visit from doping inspectors.
Thirty-six competitors canceled their participation in a Siberian track and field championship in Irkutsk after the “anti-doping agency’s doping control suddenly showed up,” said Russian sports website Championat.com.
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Russia’s athletics federation confirmed the curious withdrawals at the weekend event.
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“The (federation) can report that the federation’s disciplinary committee has begun an internal inspection of this fact,” it said in a statement.
The federation said it suggested to Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA that it should pay closer attention to regional and junior competitions as “certain problems with doping are present in this segment of Russian track and field.”
Championat.com published a list of athletes who were registered to compete but did not participate. Of the 36, 12 reportedly presented a doctor’s note, while others simply did not show up.
Russia was banned from international athletics in November 2015 over claims of state-sponsored doping, preventing its athletes from competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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