CAS
Bans Kirdyapkin - Rob Heffernan set for Olympic Bronze
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Photo: BBC.CO.UK
On Monday last, March 21st, CAS issued a statement saying that the
following procedures have all been referred to the same panel of CAS
arbitrators which will issue an Arbitral Award for each case:
IAAF v. ARAF & Sergey Kirdyapkin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Sergey Bakulin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Olga Kaniskina & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Valeriy Borchin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Vladimir Kanaikin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Yuliya Zaripova & RUSADA
This morning, all parties to the procedures have been informed of
the Panel’s decision, and CAS has issued a Media
Release:
For Rob Heffernan, the significant sentence is this:
"Sergey Kirdyapkin
All competitive results obtained by Mr Sergey Kirdyapkin from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified."
This period covers the 2012 Olympic Games, so the Olympic Medals
for the Men's 50k walk will now be redistributed as per the article
below, with Ireland, Cork and Togher AC athlete b eing awarded the
Olympic Bronze Medal!
THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT (CAS)mUPHOLDS SIX APPEALS FILED BY THE IAAF AGAINST RUSSIAN ATHLETES
Lausanne, 24 March 2016
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decisions in the following arbitration procedures:
IAAF v. ARAF & Sergey Kirdyapkin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Sergey Bakulin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Olga Kaniskina & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Valeriy Borchin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Vladimir Kanaikin & RUSADA
IAAF v. ARAF & Yuliya Zaripova & RUSADA
The appeals concernone element of decisions issued by
the disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-doping Agency (“
RUSADA”) in anti-doping cases brought against
the athletes, based on irregularities observed in the
athletes’ biological passports
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) claimed
that RUSADA had incorrectly applied the applicable anti-doping
rules
adopted by IAAF (the “IAAF ADR”) to implement the provisions of the
World Anti-Doping Code with respect to the disqualification of
competitive
results (disqualification of results split in different periods).
The IAAF challenged what it felt was a “selective” disqualification of
results, submitting that all results achieved by the athletes from the
date of their first abnormal sample to the date they accepted a
provisional suspension should be disqualified.
In each case, the appeal filed by the IAAF has been upheld and the
decision issued by the Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee of the
Russian Anti-Doping Agency for each athlete has been modified, as
follows:
Sergey Kirdyapkin
All competitive results obtained by Mr Sergey Kirdyapkin from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified.
Tribunal Arbitral du Sport
Sergey Bakulin
All competitive results obtained by Mr Sergey Bakulin from 25 February 2011 to 24 December 2012 are disqualified.
Olga Kaniskina
All competitive results obtained by Ms Olga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified.
Valeriy Borchin
All competitive results obtained by Mr Valeriy Borkin from 14 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified.
Vladimir Kanaikin
Mr Vladimir Kanaikin is declared ineligible for a period of 8 (eight)
years starting on 17 December 2012. All
competitive results obtained by Mr
Vladimir Kanaikin from 25 February
2011 to 17 December 2012 are disqualified.
Yuliya Zaripova
All competitive results obtained by
Ms Yuliya Zaripova from 20 July
2011 to 25 July 2013 are disqualified.
The above mentioned disqualifications are ordered with all resulting
consequences in accordance with Article 40.9 of the IAAF Anti-Doping
Rules.
The CAS is unable to comment on the corrections in the various rankings
which may be affected by the present decision and the possible
re-allocation of medals, titles, awards or prizes, as this is a matter
for IAAF to determine.
With the exception of the case
of Vladimir Kanaikin, where the life
ban ordered by RUSADA is annulled and replaced
by an 8 year ban, the remaining elements of the RUSADA Decisions,
whereby the athletes were found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation
and were declared ineligible for a certain period of time, were
not challengedand are therefore final.
The full awards with the grounds will be notified to the parties in the coming weeks."
Medal Reallocations
Following today's verdict by CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport,
Togher AC, and Ireland's, Rob Heffernan, is set to be
retrospectively awarded the Bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics.
Each of the three athletes finishing behing Kirdyapkin in London,
Australian, Jared Tallent, China's Tianfeng SI and Ireland's Rob
Heffernan will now be presented with the respective Gold, Silver and
Bronze Olympic medals. Recently, the IAAF decided that all future
medal reallocations will take place as "Podium Ceremonies". It
remains to be seen where and when Rob will be formally presented with
his Bronze medal. A local Cork suggestion is that a special
awards ceremony, for the many medal re-awards might take place during
the opening day of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. While that may seem,
literally, four years too late, it will give the opportunity for the
world to acclain the rightful Olympic medalists in an appropriate
setting. No doubt we will also have another opportunity for a proper
Cork celebration of Rob's medal presentation.
Photo: Sergey
Kirdyapkin - Irish Times
The "winner", Russian athlete Sergey Kirdyapkin, has been banned by
CAS, following an appeal against a ban, for doping violation, by
RUSADA, the Russian Athletics Federation. RUSADA had
'selectively' banned Kirdyapkin, with the ban period spanning, but
excluding the London Olympics.
Perversely, even with the failure of his appeal to CAS, Kirdyapkin will
still be eligible, assuming that the Russian Federation has been
rehabilitated by then, to compete in next year's Olympic Games, in Rio,
as his ban will have expired by then.
The two Russian racewalkers, Sergey Kirdyapkin, winner of the Gold
medal, in the Men's 50k walk, at the 2012 London Olympics, and Olga
Kaniskina, Silver medalist in the London 2012 Olympic women's 20 k
walk, were banned for thirty eight months, but the ban period did not
include the period of the Olympic Games, leaving the athletes eligible
to compete.
The other four athletes are the racewalkers Sergei Bakulin, who was
also suspended for thirty eight months, but who retained the 50k World
Title won in 2011, Valery Borchin, banned for 8 years following his
second infraction, Vladimir Kanaykin, banned for life for repeated
infractions, and the hurdles champion Yulia Zaripova, who had some of
her results from 2011, and the London 2012 Olympics deleted.
Editorial Comment
I was present on The Mall in London, for both the women's 20k walk, and
the men's 50k walk. It was fabulous to see the Irish talent
of Olive Loughnane and Laura Reynolds, in the women's 20k walk in the
morning, with Rob Heffernan, Brendan Boyce and Colin Griffin competing
along with the cream of the sport. The weather was wonderful - for
spectators anyway - and the atmosphere was absolutely electric.
Rob came through with a finishing charge worthy of a medal - as it now
turns out, that was absolutely true. Indeed, all the Irish athletes
gave it their all that day. It gives me a sick feeling to find
that the winner should not have been present, let alone compete and
"Take" the Gold. I cannot comprehend the feelings that Rob and
his fellow competitors must be experiencing.
