IAAF President Seb Coe announced an unprecedented move this past week to ban Russian track & field athletes from competing at the Rio Olympics this summer as a result of systematic doping that has tainted the entire team. The IAAF's decision, which was upheld by the IOC, has geopolitical ramifications with the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling the wholesale punishment unfair to "innocent" athletes who compete without doping. This decision undoubtedly will affect the medal table, since Russian track & field athletes accounted for 20% -- 16 medals, including 7 gold -- of its country's medal haul at the 2012 London Olympics.
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