Russian athletes have been caught for ‘doping’ or using medicines and steroids to boost their performance in the past. They were even banned from participating in the Winter 2018 Olympics for this reason.
The News: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has just instituted a 4 year ban for Russian athletes from major sporting events. Athletes who can show they haven’t ‘doped’ can still participate in the events, under a neutral flag, but they cannot represent their country under the Russian flag. They will not be able to participate in the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympics and Paralympics or in the World Cup 2022 in Qatar!
Why has this happened now? The Russian anti-doping agency gave laboratory data to WADA in January 2019, but WADA believes that that these test results were doctored or changed.
What happens next? Russia has 21 days to appeal this decision, else the ban stands!
Written by: Sunaina Murthy. Sunaina is a biotechnologist, greedy reader, and amateur photographer.
