Athletics Hit By New Controversy

The world of Athletics is currently reeling from doping allegations after a report was released which suggests several major athletics meetings could have been compromised over recent years due to doping.

While the accused parties have not yet responded to the allegations, the report is damming and claims that several events in the 2012 Olympics could have been compromised. Much of the report focuses on Russia and it claims that Russian doctors and doping officials have been helping Russian athletes to go under the radar when it comes to doping tests.

While Russia features heavily in the report, it would be a surprise if this scandal only occurred in one country and it would not be surprising if further revelations were made in the coming days which implicated other countries in the scandal.

Lord Coe, President of International Association of Athletics Federation has already commented on the events, describing it as a ‘dark day for the sport.’ Coe only took up his position as President earlier this year at a time when Athletics was already coming under scrutiny.

The latest accusations come just months after several high profile British athletes, including Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah were accused of using drugs to improve their performance. These accusations proved to be unfounded as both athletes released private data proving that they had abided by the rules.

Athletics is not the only sport to suffer a doping scandal. In recent years many high profile cyclists have been uncovered as drug cheats and it is only now that the sport is starting to recover. The fact that the Olympics are less than the a year away makes the situation all the worse for athletics. Rio 2016 would have been one of the biggest events in the athlete’s careers, although now the validity of the results are likely to be called into question.