Finally the final sentence has arrived: Viktor Chegin, the coach with most medals in the world, has been banned from Russian federation.
It was already expected, last january the last of his pupils, three olympic champions, had been disqualified for doping (Olga Kaniskina, Sergej Kirdyapkin e Valery Borchin), but they were only the tip of the iceberg of a story that has been going for too many years. More than 20 his athletes have been banned. The Russian anti doping agency has forbidden the athletes to associate with him. Any violations would result in a sanction for them.
The real news is that the president of Russian federation, Vadim Zelichenok, expressed himself on this regard, stating that with 99% probability he will not summon any Russian racewalker for the irised competition next August in Bejing. “The presence of the racewalkers might embarass our federation” he said.
Whenever this “self-sabotage” had to take place, it would surely be a great news for the Italian racewalkers. Eleonora Giorgi, Elisa Rigaudo and Antonella Palmisano have everything it takes to aim to the first positions. Let’s hope this would be the turning point for the Russian doping system that robbed so many joys and medals to honest athletes.
Photo rusathletic.com