N’Zealand Athlete Kidnapped, Seven Russian Swimmers Banned

A New Zealand jiu-jitsu athlete claimed yesterday that he was “kidnapped” in Rio de Janeiro.
Jason Lee, 27, tweeted: “What did you guys get up to yesterday? I got kidnapped. Go Olympics! #Rio2016.”

The athlete said he was taken by men in police uniform and forced to withdraw money from two cash machines (ATMs).
Lee has been living in Brazil for 10 months, but is not participating in next month’s Rio Games – which begin on August 5- because jiu-jitsu is not an Olympic sport.

Meanwhile, the Australian Olympic team is refusing to move their athletes into the Rio Olympic Games Village because of concerns about the state of the accommodation.
Also yesterday, seven Russian swimmers were banned from competing at the Rio Olympic Games by swimming’s governing body FINA.

Those deemed ineligible for Rio include Yulia Efimova, a 200m bronze medallist in London, who had a provisional ban lifted by FINA last week.

It said the McLaren Report has showed anti-doping rules were “not properly applied” by Russian authorities.
FINA will also now re-test all the samples of Russian athletes collected at last year’s World Championships.
As well as Efimova, Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Natalia Lovtcova and Anastasia Krapivina were withdrawn by the Russian Olympic Committee.
Nikita Lobintsev, Vladimir Morozov and 17-year-old Daria Ustinova appeared in the World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned investigation.

That report by Dr Richard McLaren claims Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the “vast majority” of summer and winter Olympic sports.
Following the findings, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would leave it up to individual sports’ governing bodies to decide if competitors are clean and should be allowed to take part.
FINA said it “acknowledges and supports” the IOC’s position.
FINA will, therefore, “as a decision made as an emergency in the context of Rio 2016” subject the eligibility of Russian athletes to specific additional criteria, which are:

No athlete corresponding to the samples mentioned in the McLaren report will be eligible
A board will review whether Russian athletes were subject to reliable anti-doping scrutiny
No athlete who has already sanctioned will be declared eligible to compete at Rio

FINA said the “exact implication for the Russian Swimming Federation is still to be clarified” and an “ad hoc commission will have to investigate”.
The commission will consider any further information from McLaren’s ongoing investigation. THISDAY