Can this situation get any more farcical? RUSADA, the Russian anti-doping agency is now headed by just-retired pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva. I recall cheering Isinbayeva on when she set her last world record in Zürich in 2009, but this appointment is hardly anything to cheer about.
This appointment is yet another example of bad governance in sport. Can the Russians really not see the potential conflicts of interest here? Isinbayeva is currently a member of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission, and she has also just started an 8-year term on the IOC Athletes’ Commission (note that she received quite a few “no”-votes, unlike the other elected athletes). As now head of RUSADA she should give up both these posts, even if they are of a non-executive nature. It’s is also the perception that counts. But perhaps perception of a different kind is what the Russians are after. According to the USA Today report, she will head RUSADA as part of a “10-person board including sports executives, academics, and a Russian sports ministry official.” I can’t help thinking, and I mean no offence to her personally, that Isinbayeva is being used here by RUSADA to serve as a marionette. The announcement is of course impeccably timed as we await with bated breath the final McLaren report.