RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach spoke out Tuesday against the "nuclear option" of imposing a complete ban on Russian athletes for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, prompting a debate that laid much of the blame for the scandal on the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Bach opened the International Olympic Committee's three-day general assembly by seeking formal backing from the full membership of the executive board's handling of the Russian doping scandal. After a debate lasting more than two hours, Bach asked for a show of hands, and all but one of the approximately 100 members voted in favor of his position.