The Russians aren’t done yet.
Even though the International Association of Athletics Federations upheld its ban Friday on Russian track and field athletes for the Rio Olympics, there’s a growing sense in the international anti-doping community that the International Olympic Committee might bring them right back – as soon as Tuesday.
Some of them, anyway. Perhaps many. They could be categorized as individuals rather than part of a team in Rio, and might even be allowed to march into the August 5 opening ceremony, not behind the Russian flag, but the Olympic flag.
The IOC sent out a telling press release Thursday, a day before the IAAF announced its decision, in which the IOC said it will hold a summit next Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, where it is headquartered, “to address the difficult decision between collective responsibility and individual justice.