Anti-doping agency imposes 4-year ban on Russia

A monument to Misha the Bear, the mascot of the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, in a park in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. The World Anti-Doping Agency has banned Russia from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2014, file photo, a Russian skating fan holds the country's national flag over the Olympic rings before the start of the men's 10,000-meter speedskating race at Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, the logo of the Russian Olympic Committee at the entrance of the head office in Moscow, Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, FILE)

President-Elect of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Witold Banka, left, President of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie, center, and Director General of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Olivier Niggli, right, arrive for a press conference after the WADA's extraordinary Executive Committee (ExCo) on the Russian doping data manipulation, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. WADA bans Russia from international sporting events for four years. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2014 file photo, the Russian national flag, right, flies after next to the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

FILE - In this May 24, 2016, file photo, lab technicians work at Russia's national drug-testing laboratory in Moscow, Russia. The Russians were running out of time. Experts from the World Anti-Doping Agency were heading to Moscow to finally receive the trove of data they’d been seeking for two years. Instead of getting ready to hand it over, Russian authorities stayed busy in a round-the-clock endeavor to keep changing, deleting and manipulating the data. Granular details of the plot are sprinkled throughout WADA’s previously confidential 89-page report, obtained by The Associated Press. Among the most brazen projects, the report says, was the rewriting of memos to make it look as though the man who exposed the plot was leveraging the Russian doping scheme to line his own pockets. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2015 file photo a man walking past the Russian Olympic Committee building, casts a shadow on a window in Moscow, Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, file)

Four-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov walks in the yard of the Russian Olympic Committee building in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. The World Anti-Doping Agency has banned Russia from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2014 file photo Veleriya Obarevich, right, and Yan Shamilov carry a Russian flag with the message "Thank you, Putin!" written across it in Russian through Olympic Park ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Sochi, Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 from the Olympics and other major sporting events for four years, though many athletes will likely be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/David Goldman, file)