On Monday the 18th July 2016, it was revealed that the Russian team could face a potentially ban from the 2016 Rio Olympics on doping claims from the athletes in the majority of sports.
The Olympics is meant to be the world's most prestigious sporting event, every athlete in Olympicsports wishes and dreams from a very young age to be in the Olympics. They dedicate the vast majority of their youth training, hours and hours a day working on fitness, skill and mental preparation, in turn missing out on the things others take for granted. The athletes dedicate their lives to becoming the best and winning that lucrative Olympic gold medal, representing their country and being the best in the world for 4 years.
I am a dedicated competition water skier (which is not an Olympic sport), many of my water skier friends have also dedicated their whole lives to competing in water skiing, trying to become the best they can and win a World Championship gold medal, this is the best they can do. They will never gain the recognition they deserve, the opportunity for others to watch them compete through media or gain sponsorship deals, all because they chose a sport which isn't an Olympic one.
Reading an article today on BBC news about the majority of the Russian team effectively cheated by doping in previous Olympic and world events and angers me, the BBC stated that since late 2011 some Russian team members have been falsifying and swapping urine samples in a diverse and large operation.
These included athletes in these sports; Athletics, Weight lifting, Paralympic sports, Canoe, Wrestling, Ice Hockey, Cycling, Swimming, Skiing, Football, Rowing and Biathlon. 11 of Russia's 46 athletes won medals at the London 2012 some have since been stripped of their medals.
All the other athletes who followed all the rules, trained for their whole lives lost out on medals at previous Olympics and world events due to Russians beating them by cheating, how has this been covered up for so long?
Why did it go unnoticed? So many questions on everyones minds, how in 2016 can basically a whole countries team get away with something like this. It makes me angry because I can see how much training and effort people go through to achieve their potential and to have that taken away from you by someone who you found out cheated must be a terrible feeling.
Whatever the fait of the Russian Rio 2016 Olympic team, I feel sorry for the minority of Russian athletes who didn't dope and have been training their whole lives in their sports for Rio 2016, to potentially have it all take away from them for something they have nothing to do with. Even if they are allowed to go to Rio, they will bethe ones who suffer.
