Russian Olympic team spotlights issue of state sponsored doping

With the Olympics games in full swing, there has been a lot of hype for the athletes, but also a bit of scandal. The Olympics have a long history of doping and use of performance enhancing drugs, and this year is no exception.

The Russian Olympic team has been thrust into the spotlight after Professor Richard McLaren of the World Anti-Doping Agency published a report accusing Russian athletes of participating in a state sanctioned doping program. McLaren’s report, he says, proved “beyond reasonable doubt that systematic state sponsored doping” of Russian athletes is taking place.

Despite these accusations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed 278 Russian athletes into the Rio Games, including swimmer Yulia Efimova. Efimova had previously been banned from the Olympics, but received a last minute admission into this year’s games.

Many view this as “a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games,” says The Los Angeles Times and believes that the IOC has hopelessly muddied the waters of the scandal.

Lily King, who recorded the fastest semifinal time in the 100m breas6tstroke, is “not a fan.”

King’s gold medal swim proves that “you can compete clean and still come out on top”, and she is not the only person who is glad of the victory. Many people are unsatisfied with the IOC’s handling of the situation and believe that more drastic measures need to be put in place.

The problem of state sponsored doping is a worldwide issue with no easy solution that poses a major threat to the integrity of the Olympic Games and all they represent.