{"id":428308,"date":"2020-04-22T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T19:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=428308"},"modified":"2020-04-22T12:18:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T19:18:53","slug":"swim-poll-of-the-week-68-in-favor-of-making-adjustments-to-doping-suspensions-that-will-leave-some-athletes-eligible-for-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swim-poll-of-the-week-68-in-favor-of-making-adjustments-to-doping-suspensions-that-will-leave-some-athletes-eligible-for-tokyo\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim Poll of the Week: 68% In Favor of Making Adjustments to Doping Suspensions That Will Leave Some Athletes Eligible For Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Wednesday April 22, 2020, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products<\/a>. In our last poll, we wanted to know: Should there be adjustments made to doping suspensions that will now leave some athletes eligible for next year’s Olympic Games?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Athletes have voiced their opposition to those serving doping suspensions and excluded from the\u00a0Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games<\/strong>\u00a0in July this year being eligible for a Games delayed until July next year due to the\u00a0coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the call for suspensions during the health crisis to be extended to take account of a sports-free season cause by the health crisis, the\u00a0World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)<\/strong>\u00a0has hinted that there will be no adjustment of suspensions because of the health crisis if \u201cnatural justice\u201d is to be served.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Coe, head of World Athletics,<\/strong>\u00a0believes that the issue needs further consideration, and will listen to what the independent Athletics Integrity Unit has to say. There is no such unit in swimming but the sport is among those with cases of athletes who would have missed Tokyo 2020 but may now be eligible for \u2018Tokyo 2020 in 2021\u2019.<\/p>\n

The\u00a02020 Olympics were officially postponed last month for one year<\/a>. The\u00a0opening ceremony is now set for July 23, 2021<\/a>. That is where our swim poll question comes in.<\/p>\n

Some are now suggesting that suspension periods should be extended by the length of the sports lockdown once sport opens shop when the\u00a0World Health Organisation (WHO)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>and others deem it to be safe.<\/p>\n

While that is likely to be challengeable in law, there are also other considerations to be had, including how close an athlete is to having served a full term of a suspension.<\/p>\n

Among high-profile active suspensions in swimming, the following athletes could make it back to the sport in time to qualify for a July 2021 Olympic Games should they choose to do so, even though they were not eligible for Tokyo 2020:<\/p>\n