Should Russia have been allowed into the Rio 2016 Olympics?

I realise that the above question can provide a very simple answer but that wouldn't be much of an article now would it?

Ever since it was revealed that Russia had partaken in a doping scandal that involved their governemnt no less, people have been calling for them to be banned from all competitions especially the Olympics.

This nearly happened when the IOC (International Olympic Committee) asked for a blanket ban on all sportsmen and women from Russia. This was welcomed by some but not all as the athletes who had raced clean felt they were being punished for something they had no part in. How much of that is true remains to be seen.

However, the ban was overturned and each sport overviewed the athletes and picked who could and couldn't compete which caused a lot of confusion.

Here is what I would have done (for any country not just Russia). I would have looked at the test results and anyone who has been banned for drugs is banned for life. If you are stupid enough to do it then you should face the consequences of your actions and never compete again. The term once a cheat always a cheat springs to mind there. Anyone who is suspected of doping should be suspended from all competition pending a full and proper test result.

Those who miss tests should also be banned until they can provide a sample for testing and even then it has to be clean of course. I do include Lizzie Armitstead in that bracket as well (I don't care she is British and a medel hope for us, if she cheated she cheated no remorse).

In conclusion I feel that Russia should of been allowed to compete at the games but a serious review into their sport needs to happen sooner rather than later to avoid all this confusion happening again. Also the full ban on the Paralympics for Russia is stupid and the athletes should be subject to the same rules as the able bodied Olympics no matter how complicated it is.