Back in April, World Triathlon lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. The athletes were prohibited from racing as part of the wider ban on Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Prior to that, Russian athletes were also subject to a ban as a result of the country’s doping offences.
Acting in step with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Triathlon declared that they supported “the development of a pathway for independent neutral individual Athletes and Officials with Russian and Belarusian passports to participate in our sports“.
However, questions still stand for anti-doping practices in Russia.
Recently, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) remains non-compliant and that it is not eligible for reinstatement.
In its update, WADA stated that the “non-compliance in this case was a result of a non-conformity relating to national legislation that was identified during a virtual audit in September 2022 and not addressed to date”.
As things stand, Russia is one of three non-compliant signatories to the WADA Code. The other two are the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Gabon.
Meanwhile WADA confirmed that RUSADA disputes WADA’s allegation of non-compliance.
As much as Russian athletes have received the green light from World Triathlon, questions will therefore remain about the wider long-term prospects for the country to make a full and active return to international triathlon.
When World Triathlon made its announcement in April, there were unanswered questions over Russia’s doping ban. Following WADA’s update, these questions will likely linger for some time.
