From Inside the Games
Women’s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe has described the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) response to Beckie Scott’s claim she was bullied for campaigning to stop the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) being reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as “particularly concerning”.
In an interview with BBC Sport earlier this month, Scott, a former member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, alleged she was “belittled” and “bullied” for her opposition to RUSADA having its ban lifted.
When RUSADA’s reinstatement was approved at a meeting in the Seychelles last month, the Olympic gold medallist resigned her position on WADA’s Compliance Review Committee in protest.
Scott, a member of Canada’s five kilometres + 5km combined pursuit team that won the Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City 2002, claimed that when she voiced her opinion at the meeting, she was treated in a way that left her feeling “that there is very little respect, there is very little appreciation and there is very little value” placed on the athlete voice.
The 44-year-old alleged that the inappropriate behaviour came from “members of the Olympic Movement”.
The IOC did not initially respond to the allegations, leading to chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, to issue a scathing statement on Twitter claiming their silence was a “stunning failure” that showed them to be “desperately out of touch”.
They have since sent a statement revealing IOC member Danka Barteková, a Slovakian skeet shooter and Olympic bronze medallist, who joined the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2012, contacted Scott as soon as she heard the allegations.
But speaking to insidethegames here at SPORTELMonaco, Radcliffe, a former world champion in the marathon, half-marathon and cross-country, claimed that Scott’s claims should have been dealt with much quicker.
