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Russian Olympic Committee Releases Sarcastic Statement Over Doping Comments Made at Pool
Following the gold-medal performance by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov in the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, American Ryan Murphy and Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank questioned whether the competition is clean, and free of performance-enhancing drugs. Murphy won the silver medal behind Rylov, as was the case in the 100 backstroke, and Greenbank won the bronze medal.
After the race, Murphy was asked if he thought the athletes were competing on a level playing field. The three-time Olympic gold medalist from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, and five-time medalist overall, noted that he did not think all fields were clean. Greenbank supported that belief.
One of the issues that has disturbed athletes competing in Tokyo is that the Russian Olympic Committee, despite the nation having been found to operate a systematic-doping program, has been allowed to compete. The penalties levied against Russia were slaps on the wrist. Athletes had to compete under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) name, with no flag or national anthem as part of medals ceremonies.
After Murphy and Greenbank expressed their feelings, the ROC released a statement that was over-the-top in nature, and sarcastic at points.
“How unnerving our victories are for some of our colleagues,” the statement said. “Yes, we are here at the Olympics. Whether someone likes it or not. The old barrel organ started the song about Russian doping again. English-language propaganda, oozing with verbal sweat in the Tokyo heat. Through the mouths of athletes offended by defeats. We will not console you. Forgive us those who are weaker. God is their judge. And for us – an assistant.”
Ryan Murphy is the first person to come out publicly about doping in swimming. During the Tokyo 2020 swimming events I too suspect that both the Russian and Chinese teams are doping. I can’t prove it but I was a former swimmer and I know it takes 6 months of work to shave off 1/10 of second on average. When you get to the Olympic level of elite athletes there’s not much change no matter how hard or how long you train. I’m not hating on other countries or nationalities. I suspect that doping is in elite athletics in many countries including American swimming too. When Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France after his cancer I knew something was up but when I spoke about it my words were squashed by others. I also called out the Irish swimmer, Michelle Smith, for doping in the ’96 Olympics. Her gold medal performance far exceeded her times from just two years before and I was proven correct a few months on. I also spent time in China and I went to a table tennis school. I quickly learned that students in China do as their told. I’m sure that Russian athletes do as they’re told too. Ryan Murphy can’t prove a thing. Like he said, it’s not his job but I’m also not sure if the Olympic governing body is going to hunt down dopers. The whole world watched when Russia doped in the past and people have learned how to dope and not get caught. Ryan Murphy is not speaking out the side of his mouth. When you’re in the sport you know things that people can not see from outside the sport. I applaud Ryan Murphy for his courage.
Well said.
Michelle Smith was never caught doping. At the time of her wins she was the most tested athlete on the planet. She still has her medals. Peers who competed in the same Olympics in different sports have subsequently had their medals stripped. If she was guilty, she too would she had them stripped. She did not.
Smith failed an out of competition drug test and was removed from the sport.
She had enough whiskey dumped into her urine sample to kill a full grown adult. Yeah, she was doping. Her meals should have been taken from her but weren’t. Even her coaches and teammates suspected her especially after her physical changes.
Hard to take Americans on their moral high horse seriously when the looked the other way as USA Swimming covered up sexual abuse of underage swimmers for decades and still deny it to this day. State sponsored doping is a far less serious crime compared to state sponsored sexual abuse.
But that was internal issue, wasn’t it? How does it relate to the Olympic rules?
Sexual abuse is NEVER an internal issue. It is an international humanitarian issue.
“and I know it takes 6 months of work to shave off 1/10 of second on average”
On April 10, at the finals of the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, California, Seward swimming sensation Lydia Jacoby attained a new personal best time in the 100-meter breaststroke at 1:06.38, – sewardjournal.com
Jacoby’s time of 1:04.95 was marginally slower than Schoenmaker’s Olympic record of 1:04.82, set two days ago in the semi-final. But when it mattered, Jacoby showed nerves of steel to win a historic – and unexpected – gold in Tokyo. – olympics.com
Not judging. Just saying.
Courage in What?
Let’sake another Ryan? Ryan Lochte I mean!
What you said David is mildly speaking a baby’s puke. It is all again the “Russian collusion” theme that everyone is sick and tired of hearing about. The government sponsored doping is accepted as a fact in the West. Russia denies it. So you have to prove to me and others that it was not a local corruption case (if it was one) but the case where the President Putin himself ordered switching the urine samples. As if he had nothing better to do. Anything undermining Russia is good enough. Just for the sake of balanced reporting, check out the results of Russian internal onvestigation, particularly if you cannot provide any evidence except for politically charged claims and conclusions that Russia must be stopped, punished, contained. I hate to upset you, it will not happen. Russia will be the force that together with China will dominate you.
Every word you wrote is recycled mandrill excrement, you useless Russkytroll toad. PUTANA will not prevail, nor will your doped to the gills so-called ‘athletes.’ Everyone knows what scum you are.
Nah, losers that cannot accept defeat are indeed losers in every way you wish to put it.
The statement “Through the mouths of athletes offended by defeats” is the reality.
My advice to sourpusses – win for a change, for cryin out loud.
Maybe just sore losers??? The brits and yanks are not drug free for sure yet preach to the world well done and congratulations to the Russian!
Yea the kid with an impeccable record and career doesn’t have a right to be skeptical of a nation that was blatantly caught cheating at the highest level, less than 6 years ago… He’s absolutely within his right to question a nation that cheated.
Congrats to those three swimmers! Hopefully they were all clean.
Murphy isn’t the first. Google Mack Horton, Rio games.
Russia and China athletes do as ordered
Or their out! They have always cheated!!!
So by your logic, swimmers such as David Popovici are doping… bold statement but aight. Swimmers improve at their own rate and if they’re doping so be it, however many swimmers take significantly less time than others to drop significant amounts of time. Considering Evgeny Rylov was already in contention for a gold medal, idek what to tell you.
I guess you suspect it would be like if somebody accuses you of murder or another crime then you’re guilty. And lumping in Russia and China just shows you as a joker.
How ungracious a comment from the Russian “suits”, a/k/a ROC. Their system was found guilty. Their athletes are being able to compete because their penalty for systemic cheating was halved, not because the allegations against them were ruled groundless.
The old “catch me if you can” ?
Ironic, US has had their fare share of doping violations. Albeit not state sponsored, but on a commercial level. Why are they so precious? Within the past years the Nike program of coaches helping athletes dope come to mind? …intresting affinity/halo vs horn bias at play.
Most US swimmers are pretty sporting but you will always find one or two sore losers
Typical sore loser mentality by entitled Western White athletes. You saw it with Caster in Track and Field (hint it wasn’t the Asian, African, or Hispanic athletes being sore losers there), you saw it with the Tunisian kid being accused of doping, you saw it when the Japanese and Chinese swimmers won, it’s this inflated sense of entitlement that only western white athletes should be allowed to win and whenever they don’t they howl and throw cheating accusations around. Makes sense since most of them grew up spoiled rich with the luxury to spend their free time training and are never told “no”. But I guess that’s the culture that gave us people like Jerry Sandusky, the Canadian Residential Schools, Weinstein, Brock Turner, and more.
I dont agree with his statement but you are far worse by making it racial “white athlete” seriously? Shame on you and everyone else that makes race the core of every argument! This has nothing to do with race!
USA, Australia and GB should win all available gold medals. Anything less would be due to doping by rest of world – unless if they like you then perhaps you given benefit of the doubt
Why did you put the USA in that.
I am reading articles about doping these days and seeing that many Americans are forgetting about doping affairs the country faced with a while ago. Marion Jones, Lens Armstrong, Justin Gatlin, etc. All those were top level athletes. Armstrong turned from the most decorated cyclist to the biggest fraud in history. So, there are always two sides of the story. Americans should not “attack” Russians this way, because they are not better, apparently.
The American cases you described were disgraceful, but they were individuals who made the decision to take these drugs. The Russian case is systemic and state sponsored. That’s why the entire country sports apparatus needs to be punished, not just a few athletes:
And how do American athletes find those prohibited substances? Fund pharmaceutical laboratories from prize money?
But isn’t *sport itself* state sponsored in Russia – i.e. individuals don’t need to foot the hefty and often prohibitively expensive bill. Lucky devils.
But for US athletes the Government guarantees they are clean. What in the name of God is that? Systematic doping of Russians should not reflect to those who are clean. That’s what I think. If the Olympic Committee or country is banned, that’s fine. But comments such as “I don’t believe I saw in clean race” is just ridiculous and shows no respect in defeat.
The only evidence that the doping is ” state sponsored” came from the corrupt individual who personally benefited from the fraud and who was under the Russian authorities investigation for the involvement into doping scandals. Rodchenkov’s sister was already caught red handed and got her sentence in Russia but her brother managed to escape into the hospitable US. All the accusations came from the person who ended up between 2 choices: to be imprisoned in Russia for the corruption or to become wealthy and even famous under friendly American supervision)))
The difference is the personal vs state sponsor
‘Lens’ LOL
The problem is that the Russians have taken a short term risk by doping some of their athletes but the long term risk is “when can we trust them again having been found guilty previously?”
I’m just gonna keep my eyes on the line at the bottom and await the banner headline retraction when Ryan Murphy eventually is bestowed the Shirley Babashoff Award of 2021.
If Ryan Murphy went his best time he would of one and wouldnt be a sore loser.
Some years ago I received detailed information from a absolutely reliable and knowledgeable government source, on exactly how a certain nation, not Russia, was beating the anti doping testing. While the testing could detect synthetic hormones in an athletes system it could not distinguish when an athlete had higher than his normal levels of natural hormones with out a long history of the results of frequent testing of that particular athlete. The country in question was extracting natural hormones from cadavers to supplement their athletes normal hormone levels. I do not know it this is still being done.
I have the same info from an extra terrestrial from a planet that I can’t name right now.
If you really want an interNATIONAL competition, doping should be legal but athletes should only be able to take performance enhancing drugs developed in their own country.
Carl Lewis was allowed to compete an win Olympic medals when Ben Johnson was caught doping by the US Olympic committee even tho they knew he had failed multiple drug tests , I don’t condone drug cheating but being a hypercrite really annoys me , ok the argument that government sponsored drug cheating is worse than individual drug cheating by people like Marion Jones ,Carl Lewis And even tho it was never proven Florence Joyner Griffiths , the results were the same , gold medalist cheating clean athletes ,the moral high ground argument is a thin line .
We all know the Russian and Chinese teams cheat, they are determined to show the world there way of life is best!!!! Russia should have been banned full stop in every sporting event. World Cup football included the world would be a better place if Russia wasn’t part of it.
And also people with mentality like yours.
I remember the East Germans making some pretty snarky replies when they were accused of doping back at the 1976 Olympics. Well, guess what? They were lying. They were doped to the gills. Hey, Russia, you are not fooling anyone.
Putin is thoroughly corrupt and immune to prosecution. Furthermore, nothing illegal can be done without his approval. There is unequivocal evidence of government sanctioned doping, however, Putin simply denies the proof offered. There is no question Russia and its athletes should have been banned from participating in the Olympic Games in order to guarantee that punishment was accomplished.