A simmering row between the IOC and WADA over doping, ahead of the Rio Olympics, has broken out in earnest. Meanwhile, IOC members backed the decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes for the Rio Games.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Kyodo
Advertisement
The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, went on the offensive during a debate lasting more than two hours on the first day of the IOC's general assembly in Rio de Janeiro.
Facing widespread criticism over the IOC board's decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes from competing in Rio after doping allegations, Bach opened the meeting by putting the move to a vote by the organization's members. The 85 delegates backed the decision by a vote of 84-1.
The German IOC president then lashed out at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It was a report commissioned by WADA that pointed to a state-sponsored system of doping in Russian sports; the organization subsequently called for all of that country's athletes to be banned from competing in Rio, a recommendation that the IOC ignored. Instead, it instructed the international federations of the sports represented at the Olympics to decide whether or not to ban Russian athletes from the Games.
"Recent developments have shown that we need a full review of the WADA anti-doping system," Bach said. "The IOC is calling for a more robust and efficient anti-doping system. This requires clear responsibilities, more transparency, more independence and better worldwide harmonization."
Bach also denied that the IOC bore any responsibility for the doping controversy that is threatening to overshadow the Rio Games, which officially begin with Friday's opening ceremony.
Some delegates accused WADA of failing to act swiftly enough on the information of Russian middle-distance runner Yulia Stepanova, who provided information to German public broadcaster ARD, whose documentaries led to the scandal. The IOC has barred Stepanova from competing in Rio.
Yulia Stepanova will not be competing in RioImage: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
"Already in 2010 the whistleblower came to WADA. They said they didn't know what to do with this," Israeli member Alex Giladi said. "One has to scratch his head if WADA say they did not know what to do with whistleblowers that came to them with clear information and just left it."
The WADA-commissioned report on doping in Russia was released just last month.
WADA President Craig Reedie, who is also an IOC vice president, defended his organization's actions, saying that it had acted as soon as concrete facts were available. However, he also conceded that there was room for improvement.
"I like to believe all of the system is not broken," Reedie said. "Part of the system is broken. We should start trying to identify those parts that need attention."
About the only thing that the two sides were able to agree on, is the fact that the international anti-doping system needs to be fixed, if the credibility of the fight against the use of performance enhancing drugs is to be restored.
pfd/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP)
Unforgettable highlights from Olympic opening ceremonies
From tear-jerking torch bearers like the Hiroshima Baby and Muhammad Ali, to the hymn and flag, the Olympic opening ceremony has imbued protocol with cultural and political meaning - and brought us goose-bump moments.
Image: Reuters
1896: The first modern Olympic Games
The Olympic Games were held in Ancient Greece from c. 776 BC-393 AD, until they were banned by Emperor Theodosius as a "pagan cult." French academic Pierre de Coubertin initiated their revival in Athens from April 6-15, 1896. Those Games were opened by Greece's King George. The Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas, was performed for the first time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
1920: First Olympic flag and oath in Antwerp
Less than two years after the end of World War I, the Olympics were held in Antwerp. The Olympic flag, designed in 1913, was flown for the first time. The six colors on the flag - the white background plus blue, yellow, black, green and red rings - contain the colors of all other national flags. The athletes' Olympic oath (pictured) was also introduced as a commitment to fair and clean sport.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua
1928: Greece establishes symbolic order in Amsterdam
By the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam, much of the present-day protocol had been established. It was the first time the Greek national team entered the stadium first during the parade of athletes. Participating countries follow in alphabetical order according to a language chosen by the host country (usually its main language). Athletes from the host country march in last.
Image: Getty Images/Central Press
1936: Torch relay established in Nazi Germany
For the first time in 1936, a torch was relayed from Olympia, where the Olympic flame was lit, to Berlin - a tradition that has since become inseparable with the Games. The idea, said leading sports historian Manfred Lämmer, stemmed from Jewish archaeologist Alfred Schiff. Some 3,000 athletes participated in the relay and track star Fritz Schilgen (pictured) carried the torch into the stadium.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
1936 trivia: Flag mix-up
As Nazi flags were raised in Berlin for the Games, a much less foreboding flag incident occurred. When the teams from Liechtenstein and Haiti met at the opening, they were shocked to discover that their flags were identical. Liechtenstein responded by adding an emblem to theirs.
Image: picture-alliance/Schirner Sportfoto
1964: Tokyo commemorates Hiroshima
Yoshinori Sakai - also known as the Hiroshima Baby - was born on August 6, 1945, the same day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He was just 19 when he carried the Olympic torch into the stadium in Tokyo, setting a symbol for world peace and creating an unforgettable Olympic moment. The 1964 Games were the first to be held in Asia.
Image: Getty Images
1980: Conspicuous absences in Moscow
The Olympic Games are inseparable from the political climate. Dick Palmer, secretary of Britain's Olympic team (front right), is carrying the Olympic banner to represent the absent British Olympic Association in protest during the opening ceremony in Moscow. Japan and West Germany were among those that joined the US-led boycott and didn't attend to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
1992: Barcelona's archer takes aim
In a spectacular display of sportsmanship, Catalonian Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo didn't run the Olympic torch up to light the flame, but shot it with his bow and arrow at the opening of the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Apparently, he was instructed to shoot just above the cauldron, while an Olympic official lit the actual flame in a perfectly choreographed maneuver.
Image: picture-alliance/Lehtikuva Oy
1996: Muhammad Ali's magical moment
If the flame lighting in Barcelona was impressive, four years later in Atlanta, it was tear-jerking. Boxer Muhammad Ali was a controversial figure in the US after going to court for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, but was also a hero for his athletic performance and commitment to his Muslim beliefs. While lighting the flame in 1996, he was visibly shaking due to Parkinson's disease.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
2004: A dress for the world in Athens
In recent years, the artistic element of the otherwise strict protocol of the opening ceremony has taken on greater significance, though the motto of peace remains consistent. In 2004 in Athens - the birthplace of the Games - eccentric Icelandic singer Bjork performed her song "Oceana" and donned a dress that slowly unfurled over the athletes' heads to reveal a 10,000-square-foot world map.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Baker
2008: Superlatives in Beijing
Beijing pulled out all the stops in 2008 for an opening ceremony said to cost $100 million. (London in 2012 cost just $40 million.) Exactly 2,008 percussionists rigged with glowing sticks performed on fou drums, ancient Chinese percussion instruments. The thundering performance and show of unity was a highlight of the three-hour-long opening ceremony, which incorporated over 14,000 performers.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Ugarte
2012: Old hat for Queen Elizabeth
In London in 2012, Queen Elizabeth became the first head of state to have officially opened two Olympic Games. And she did so in style - with a stunt double "parachuting" into the opening ceremony. She opened her first Games as Queen of Canada in Montreal in 1976. In her speech, she declared per protocol: "I declare open the Olympic Games of 2012, celebrating the XXX Olympiad of the modern era."
