VLADIMIR, October 11. /TASS/. Russia’s two-time Olympic Champion Elena Isinbayeva said on Tuesday she hoped that such injustice in regard to Russian athletes at the recent Summer Olympic Games in Brazil should never happen again.
"It is wrong to keep pressing one country only," Isinbayeva, who was banned from taking part in the 2016 Rio Games, said at the "Russia - Country of Sports" international forum in the Russian city of Vladimir.
"Russia is the mighty sports power, the most competitive and we are always in the top three if we take the track and field competitions alone," Isinbayeva, dubbed by global media as the Pole Vault Queen, said. "Of course, we (Russia) seem to be uncomfortable for somebody, particularly in the light of the recent political developments."
"It was not honest at all at the (2016) Olympics, sports must be beyond politics and we would like that the Rio Games would be the last to see injustice taking place in regard to athletes," she said. "The next Olympic Games in 2018 and 2020 must be different."
The Independent Commission of WADA, chaired by Canadian law professor, Richard McLaren, released the now-infamous July 18 report on the results of a probe into the accusations of doping and manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
According to the details, the commission claimed it had found evidence that Russia’s Sports Ministry and the Center for the Training of Russian National Teams and the Federal Security Service had covered up a doping program in Russian sports.
The report from WADA’s Commission stated in particular that the commission’s investigation registered a total of 643 cases of Disappearing Positive Test Results in Russia between 2012 and 2015 involving athletes from 30 sports.
As a result, WADA suggested that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and all international sports federations ban Russian athletes from all international sports competitions, including Rio 2016.