Russia Not Banned by IOC from Rio 2016 Olympics: Latest Details and Reaction

Less than two weeks before the 2016 Olympics begin, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board decided against a complete ban of the Russian delegation in Rio de Janeiro.

Per a release from the Olympic organization website, the decision involving Russia had five main points:

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1. The IOC will not accept any entry of any Russian athlete in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 unless such athlete can meet the conditions set out below.

2. Entry will be accepted by the IOC only if an athlete is able to provide evidence to the full satisfaction of his or her International Federation in relation to the following criteria: 

• The IFs, when establishing their pool of eligible Russian athletes, to apply the World Anti-Doping Code and other principles agreed by the Olympic Summit (21 June 2016).
• The absence of a positive national anti-doping test cannot be considered sufficient by the IFs.
• The IFs should carry out an individual analysis of each athlete's anti-doping record, taking into account only reliable adequate international tests, and the specificities of the athlete's sport and its rules, in order to ensure a level playing field.
• The IFs to examine the information contained in the IP Report, and for such purpose seek from WADA the names of athletes and National Federations implicated. Nobody implicated, be it an athlete, an official, or an NF, may be accepted for entry or accreditation for the Olympic Games.
• The IFs will also have to apply their respective rules in relation to the sanctioning of entire NFs.

3. The ROC is not allowed to enter any athlete for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 who has ever been sanctioned for doping, even if he or she has served the sanction.

4. The IOC will accept an entry by the ROC only if the athlete's IF is satisfied that the evidence provided meets conditions 2 and 3 above and if it is upheld by an expert from the CAS list of arbitrators appointed by an ICAS Member, independent from any sports organisation involved in the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

5. The entry of any Russian athlete ultimately accepted by the IOC will be subject to a rigorous additional out-of-competition testing programme in coordination with the relevant IF and WADA. Any non-availability for this programme will lead to the immediate withdrawal of the accreditation by the IOC.

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The only Russians still not permitted to take part in the 2016 Olympics are the 68 track and field athletes who were previously banned from competing internationally by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Global federations still hold the right to determine which athletes they will accept into various sports.

USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart reacted to the IOC's decision, courtesy of USA Today's Rachel Axon:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Russia's track and field ban following an appeal that was announced Friday, per ESPN.com. "Today's judgment has created a level playing field for athletes," the IAAF said in a statement.

In November, the World Anti-Doping Agency issued an independent report that members of Russia's secret service "intimidated workers at a drug-testing lab to cover up top athletes' positive results," according to Rebecca R. Ruiz and Victor Mather of the New York Times.

On July 18, WADA released a 97-page report detailing the widespread doping and concealment methods the country used before and during the Winter Olympics two years ago.

As part of the findings, WADA confirmed the 60 Minutes report that athletes received drugs from coaches before the 2014 Games in Sochi and government officials erased the evidence of failed tests.

The WADA report also found that the Russian government was involved in all of the test swapping:

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The State had the ability to transform a positive analytical result into a negative one by ordering that the analytical process of the Moscow Laboratory be altered. The Ministry of Sport ("MofS"), RUSADA and the Russian Federal Security Service (the "FSB") were all involved in this operation.

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Banning a nation from the Olympics is not without precedent, though it hasn't happened for rampant performance-enhancing drug use.

According to Axon, "Germany and Japan were not invited to the Games following the World Wars. South Africa saw its invitation rescinded for the 1964 Olympics after failing to denounce apartheid."

Russia has been one of the world's athletic superpowers for decades and has finished in the top three in the medal count at every Summer Olympics since 1996.

Despite the ban on the country's track and field athletes, Russia kept its spot at the 2016 Games, and now it can focus on trying to rebuild its image on the biggest stage in the world starting Aug. 5.