The International Paralympic Committee on Sunday banned Russia’s entire Paralympic team from competition in the upcoming Paralympic Games due to a state-sponsored performance enhancing drug ring. The Paralympics take place here in Rio just after the close of the Olympics.
And yes, you read that correctly: the Paralympic team. Not the Olympic team.
“The IPC governing board has resolved to suspend [Russia] with immediate effect,” IPC president Sir Philip Craven announced.
So an entire nation is banned from what should be a showcase for the most resilient, talented and inspirational among us. Athletes, regardless of nationality, deserve immense respect for finding a way to overcome the loss of limb or other physical limitation to compete globally in sport.
The Paralympics are the best, a reminder that around the globe there are people who are mentally, emotionally and physically tough. Yes it is naïve to believe there wasn’t doping in the Paralympics, but could naïve please still exist somewhere?
This is the final nail of proof – if one even were necessary – that the so-called Olympic Spirit and all that blather about humanity and goodwill and fair play is such garbage it should be floating in a Rio river for a kayaker to dodge.
If you can’t simply kick back and watch humans who have beaten immense odds, say losing their legs, to sprint down a track, without suspecting at least one, if not all, are trying to cheat their fellow heroes … then what is the point?
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