Russian Athletes Withdraw From Competition When Drug Testers ArriveJanuary 18, 20187:00 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/18/578803048/russian-athletes-withdraw-from-competition-when-drug-testers-arriveMore than 30 Russian athletes participating in Siberian Indoor Championships last weekend abruptly withdrew from competition when drug testers arrived at the event.
According to the Russian sports website Championat, as many as 36 athletes cited various illnesses for withdrawing from the competition at the city of Irkutsk.
Last month, Russian athletes were banned from competing under their nation's flag in the Winter Olympics that begin next month following allegations of a state-sponsored doping scheme involving athletes at the 2014 Games in Sochi.
In 2016, one Russian athlete tried to bribe a drug tester and another ran out of the stadium during her own race to avoid being tested, the World Anti-Doping Agency says.
As The Moscow Times notes, "Russia has a checkered history with the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs by its athletes, a legacy of the Soviet Union backed by historical evidence and testing records."
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