Canadian luger says it’s a ‘dark day’ after Russian doping ban reversal

Canadian luger Sam Edney says it’s a “dark day” for the Olympics after an international tribunal overturned suspensions and reinstated results for 28 Russian athletes accused of doping.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that due to insufficient evidence, the sanctions against the athletes should be annulled and their individual results at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi be reinstated.

Edney and his teammates stand to lose a bronze medal as a result of the decision.

The Canadians finished fourth in the team event four years ago but learned in December they would likely be upgraded after Russians Albert Demchenko and Tatiana Ivanova were stripped of their results by the International Olympic Committee and received lifetime bans due to doping accusations.

Both Russians had their suspensions reversed and results reinstated by CAS on Thursday.

“Above anything else, this is a very very very dark day for the Olympics,” Edney said via Twitter. “AND, this is a very very very dark day for Clean Sport … if there is such a thing anymore.”

Eleven more Russians were ruled Thursday to have been guilty of doping but had lifetime bans imposed by an IOC disciplinary panel two months ago cut to a ban only from the Pyeongchang Games, which open next week.

The IOC said it has taken note of the CAS decision “with satisfaction on the one hand and disappointment on the other” because of the impact it could have on the future fight against doping in sport.

“Afraid it may be the beginning of the end for Olympics … if the IOC rolls over on this one,” Edney tweeted.

But he remained hopeful that “clean sport will prevail.”

“Clean athletes must be louder and demand a fair place to compete,” he said.

The IOC last year banned 43 Russians for doping offences at the Sochi Olympics, ruling they had been part of a state-sponsored scheme to dope.

The Russian government vehemently denies ever supporting doping.

— With files from The Associated Press