NEW YORK (Sputnik) — An overall ban on Russian athletes at the upcoming summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil would not be fair to "clean" athletes, former US Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner told Sputnik.
"I think we need to be very cautious of a ban of all Russian athletes. This is not right if an athlete who has not been proven in taking bad substances will be banned," Gardner said on Monday.
Moreover, Gardner noted that he "never heard and never saw" doping within the Russian wrestling team, a team that he added was one of the best teams in the sport.
"If Russia will be able to compete, I think they will have a very good Olympics in wrestling because they have the best team in wrestling. It will be a shame if they will be banned," Garner stated.
Earlier in July, an independent WADA commission led by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren presented a report based on the investigation results, in which Russia was accused of running a state-wide doping program, prompting the International Olympic Committee to consider a blanket ban on the entire Russian team.
On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee announced its decision to ban all Russian athletes with a record of doping violations from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The Committee, however, left it up to the respective international federations to decide whether individual Russian athletes should be allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics.
Gardner competed in the 2000 Olympic games and won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling after defeating Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin.
