The Court of Arbitration's decision to uphold the blanket ban on Russia ahead of the Rio Paralympics has managed to restore some credibility for athletics.
There's a still a lot of road to be covered, but this is the response we've been looking for. The reassurance we needed that doping is not untouchable.
The proposed ban on Russian athletes of the Rio Olympics, we thought, was the ultimate opportunity for the hierarchy of athletics to demonstrate true leadership and take a progressive step in the unceasing battle against doping.
By failing to enforce the ban, the International Olympic Committee effectively sidestepped the chance to prove the existence of a 'zero tolerance' system.
If anything, it suggested that perhaps a new number was needed for that term.
Laughing at calls for Olympics to rescue Paralympics. They've already told whistleblowers within own auspices that, essentially, tough shit.
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) August 22, 2016
The sports federations, and a three-person IOC panel, were assigned the job of making the final call, and yet we had Russian representatives at the Games.
The decision radiated bad vibes from the start and the Rio Olympics unsurprisingly proved to be a hostile ground for Team Russia.
Russian Swimmer Yulia Efimova, who previously served a 16-month ban for a doping violation in 2013, was booed before every race.
She will be remembered for the 'finger waving war' with American opponent Lily King. And when King eventually defeated Efimova in the 100m Breaststroke, she simply said: "You've been caught for drug cheating. I'm just not a fan."
Efimova spoke tearfully to the press after some of her races and has since described her overall experience in Rio as "hell".
Russia finished fourth in the medal standings but how many more of its athletes had similar experiences?
Where the International Olympic Committee was lacking in moral fibre, the International Paralympic Committee has stepped in to pick up the proverbial baton. And the Court of Arbitration for Sport deserves a tip of the cap as well.
Earlier this month, the IPC imposed a blanket ban on the Russian Paralympic, calling the state-sponsored doping programme in the country "disgusting" and "abhorrent". The Russian Paralympic Committee appealed the ruling, but CAS officially rejected their plea yesterday.
This is the exemplary step forward we needed the IOC to take. And if we are to believe that the Olympics is still the paradigm of elite sport, then similarly strict calls will have to be made to flush out the toxins of doping.
Irish Paralympic athlete, Niamh McCarthy from Cork, is heading to the Rio Paralympics soon.
Speaking on this month's Off The Bench podcast ahead of her departure, the 22-year-old said that although she won't be competing against Russian athletes in the discus, she agreed with the decision:
"Everyone's saying that it's discrimination against Russian athletes but that's not what it's about. It's about so many athletes that have been proven to be doing what they've been doing and I kind of applaud the IPC for making that decision to show the absolute no tolerance attitude that they have."
She added:
"A lot of people are asking about the clean athletes and it is really disappointing for them but unfortunately for them, they're under that governing body and it's tough but I think it is the right decision at the end of the day."
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