Olympics: German Champ Savages Bach Over IOC's Russia Stance
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published July 26, 2016 | 10:20 PM
BERLIN, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th july, 2016) - Germany's Olympic discus champion Robert Harting on Tuesday launched a savage verbal attack on compatriot Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, for the IOC's stance on state-run Russian doping. "For me, he is a part of the doping system, not the anti-doping system.
I am ashamed of Thomas Bach," Harting, who has long been a critic of Bach, told SID, an AFP subsidiary. "Personally, I detest this person more than ever and am very ashamed that I have to work with him indirectly." The IOC on Sunday declined to impose a blanket ban on all Russian competitors for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games after a World Anti-Doping Agency probe found evidence of a wide-ranging cheating system directed from the top. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has banned all Russian competitors from the athletic's section of the Rio Games, something Harting welcomes as "the correct action.
This may be a wake-up call." But with less than two weeks before the Games start, the IOC has controversially left the decision whether to ban Russian athletes from the other Olympic disciplines down to the individual sports federations. Bach defended the IOC's decision saying it "respects the right of every clean athlete around the world" -- something Harting passionately rejects. The 31-year-old, who won the discus gold at London 2012 and three straight world titles from 2009 to 2013, says he has "no interest in feeling the pain" of any clean Russian athletes.
Harting says the IOC's decision is a set-back in the battle to drive doping rom sport and says he "can't understand the decision" which he finds "simply embarrassing". Harting says under Bach's presidency, the IOC has "reached a new level of disappointment". Harting is also disappointed that an IOC ethics commission opted not to allow whistle-blower Yuliya Stepanova, the Russian 800-metre runner who lifted the lid on systematic doping fraud in her country, to compete in Rio as a neutral. Harting will be bidding to defend his Olympic title in Rio despite tearing a chest muscle and suffering an inflamed right knee at the start of the year.
He missed the entire 2014 season with a torn knee ligament. Harting is not the only German annoyed with Bach. In protest at the IOC decision, Hans Wilhelm Gaeb, the 80-year-old former president of the German Table Tennis Association, says he will give back the Olympic Order, which was awarded to him in 2006 by Bach. "I think the decision is the severest blow to the integrity of sport and the Olympic principles," Gaeb said in a statement to SID. "I don't want to wear the recognition of an organisation which betrays the ideals of sport." Gaeb branded the IOC's decision not to allow Stepanova to run in Rio as a "shameless act and a unique tribute to power politics".
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Infinix Unveils a Vibrant New Chapter with Wahaj Ali: The face of Infinix NOTE 4 ..
PM makes two more appointments in his team
Terrorists of Shangla suicide attack will be brought to justice: Interior Minist ..
Applications Open for 6th Cycle of Start-up Incubation under the National Expans ..
Join vivo's "Light it Up" Social Media Contest in Ramadan to Win vivo V30 5G
Pakistan v New Zealand T20I series: Tickets to go on sale from today
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 29 March 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 29 March 2024
Journalists call for global action to end Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
CM for generating opportunities to bring direct int'l investment
Pakistan retains position in FTSE secondary emerging market
High Commissioner of Malaysia hosts Iftar dinner reception
More Stories From World
-
Israeli strikes kill 42 in Syria's Aleppo province
13 minutes ago -
Calls for 'smartphone free' childhood grow in UK
33 minutes ago -
Russia hits Ukraine energy sector in overnight attack
33 minutes ago -
A-bomb saga 'Oppenheimer' finally opens in Japan
43 minutes ago -
Titian's masterpiece "Flora" breathes vibrancy into Sino-Italian art exchange
53 minutes ago -
Beijing International Film Festival to open mid-April
53 minutes ago
-
China's overnight Shibor interbank rate decreases Friday
1 hour ago -
Tokyo stocks end higher tracking Wall Street gains
1 hour ago -
Boao forum urges global cooperation in energy transition
1 hour ago -
China to export homegrown tunnel-boring machine to Italy
1 hour ago -
Over 9 pct of Mongolia's livestock die in cold winter
1 hour ago -
ChiNext Index closes higher Friday
1 hour ago