From doping, to demonstrations to soiled officials, the Olympics person ne'er lacked their stock of off-the-field scandals and controversies that support the Games successful the headlines agelong aft the torch goes out.
The five-year spread since the past Summer Olympics has been nary different.
A little look astatine immoderate of the astir notable quality to deed the Olympic satellite since it past convened for the Summer Games.
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SEX ABUSE
Larry Nassar's intersexual maltreatment of hundreds of gymnasts successful the US opened a model into an abusive civilization that permeates passim the sport, and successful each corners of the globe.
Since Rio, the US Safesport Centre opened to analyse complaints astir maltreatment successful sports.
It took the decision-making process of these cases retired of the hands of organisations specified arsenic USA Gymnastics, which for years had been forced to pit members (gymnasts) against members (coaches) erstwhile maltreatment allegations arose.
Other maltreatment allegations successful taekwondo, h2o polo and fig skating were among those that came to airy successful the United States, and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewrote its ain by-laws to, successful part, prioritise the intelligence and carnal well-being of its athletes alternatively of the pursuit for Olympic medals.
RUSSIAN DOPING
In Rio, the IOC rejected a World Anti-Doping Agency proposal to prohibition each Russian competitors from the Olympics, arsenic punishment for a wide-ranging doping strategy the state designed to assistance its athletes dope without getting caught.
As a result, astir 270 Russians were permitted to vie successful 2016.
Possibly emboldened by the IOC move, Russia continued to screen up its misdeeds.
In 2019, WADA investigators determined that Russia had manipulated 23 gigabytes of information that could person been utilized to prosecute cases related to the archetypal cheating.
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WADA suggested a four-year prohibition with dense restrictions connected which Russians could vie but the Court of Arbitration for Sport watered it down.
The extremity result: Some 335 Russian athletes volition vie successful Tokyo, though not wearing squad uniforms and not nether the Russian flag.
They volition beryllium officially competing arsenic members of the "ROC" — Russian Olympic Committee.
Only 10 of those athletes volition beryllium successful way and field; that sport's governing body, whose erstwhile leaders enabled immoderate of the cheating (see below), has since taken a overmuch harder stance connected the Russia lawsuit than most.
DOPING RULES
A spotlight shined connected anti-doping rules that telephone connected athletes to taxable their whereabouts truthful they tin beryllium subjected to investigating without notice.
Reigning Olympic champions Christian Coleman and Brianna McNeal and satellite champion Salwa Eid Naser are among those missing the Olympics aft being banned for violations of this rule.
And lone weeks earlier the commencement of the Olympics, the prohibition of American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson for a affirmative marijuana trial fueled a statement astir whether that cause - not considered a show enhancer and present ineligible successful immoderate parts of the globe - should beryllium forbidden anymore.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Three of weightlifting's longtime leaders were charged with a fig of offences for a decade's worthy of doping cover-ups and different crimes.
The misconduct included 146 unresolved doping cases from 2009 done 2019.
The planetary federation's president, Tamas Ajan, was ousted aft a German documentary exposed the misdeeds.
Weightlifting's presumption for 2024 is successful jeopardy; the IOC is calling for reforms and wants to spot the athletics cleaned up.
DEMONSTRATIONS
A summertime of unrest and activism successful the United States successful 2020 forced the IOC and the USOPC to reckon with their policies connected demonstrations astatine the Olympics.
The USOPC, aft months of meetings and negotiations, determined it would not authorisation its athletes for violating Rule 50, which has agelong disallowed protests and demonstrations wrong the lines.
Though the IOC precocious relaxed the regularisation to let immoderate forms of objection adjacent the starting line, the prohibition connected the medals podium remains, mounting up what could beryllium a struggle astatine the Olympics.
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SPORTS GOVERNANCE
The IOC stripped the International Boxing Association's Olympic presumption successful the aftermath of an probe successful which the US Treasury accused the organisation's president of engagement successful cause accumulation and heroin trafficking.
Influential Kuwaiti IOC subordinate Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah is awaiting proceedings connected a forgery complaint linked to an alleged coup attempt.
The erstwhile president of track's governing body, Lamine Diack, and different apical officials were recovered blameworthy of corruption for covering up cases successful the Russian doping ungraded successful speech for bribes.
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Swimming's planetary federation (FINA) has been nether the microscope for a fig of reasons, including electing a person who was named an unindicted co-conspirator successful a bribery lawsuit involving soccer's apical body.
FINA was besides criticised for not coming down harshly capable connected Chinese Olympic champion Sun Yang, whose ain doping/testing lawsuit meandered done the sports ineligible strategy for respective years; Yang volition miss Tokyo but beryllium eligible for the Paris Games successful 2024.
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