Russia Not Fully Banned From Olympics, IOC Announces

Rather than ban Russia from the Rio de Janiero Olympics altogether, the International Olympic Committee will let individual sports federations to judge the eligibility of Russian athletes, following allegations of state-sponsored doping.

"“We had to balance the collective responsibility and the individual justice to which every human being and athlete is entitled to,” IOC president Thomas Bach said."

The World Anti-Doping Agency and other groups had called for Russia to be excluded wholesale from the Olympics, which begin Aug. 5. WADA on Monday issued a report accusing Russia’s sports ministry of organizing and overseeing a massive doping regiment for its Olympians.

That report was not specific enough to overcome the IOC’s stance that individual athletes shouldn’t be punished when they haven’t been individually implicated.

Rather, the IOC left the decision up to the governing bodies of the individual sports, and the majority of Russia’s athletes are expected to be eligible to compete.

"Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said “the majority” of Russia’s team complies with IOC criteria on doping and will be able to compete in Rio. The criteria are “very tough, but that’s a kind of challenge for our team. … I’m sure the majority of our team will comply,” Mutko said."

This isn’t to say the Russian contingent is being treated just the same as anybody else, however. Any Russian athlete who had previously been sanctioned for doping will not be allowed to compete in Rio, and the Russians who do compete will be subject to extra testing.

The U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA) called the decision a refusal to lead, suggesting those individual federations lack the resources to realistically police doping at this stage.

The Rio Games just keep getting better.