Commonwealth Games gold medalist Moss Burmester is feeling the pain of all athletes today as he contemplates the news brought forth by the International Olympic Committee's decision to not put a blanket ban on Russia for the Rio Olympics.
The 200m butterfly swimmer has expressed his disappointment saying the decision hurts those who compete drug-free on a regular basis.
"It's a shocker," he told Martin Devlin on Radio Sport.
"It's an absolute cop out from the IOC."
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Advertise with NZME.Burmester strongly believes political reasons were behind the IOC's decision saying it was too scared to make a strong decision for fear of backlash.
Burmester himself narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and when asked if he thought athletes around him were cheating, his stance was clear.
"Of course there was," Burmester said.
"The athletes in there, they know who the cheats are. But it's really hard for them to talk out about it and be able to make a stand because they are in the game so if they do, they get their heads taken off.
"My coach 100 per cent believes I should have a bronze medal."
Now, Burmester is feeling for the athletes who have to deal with an IOC who doesn't take doping seriously.
"You're in there, and your whole life is committed to it," he said.
"It's just soul destroying to know there's athletes out there who are cheating all the time."
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Advertise with NZME.Olympic gold medalist Eric Murray was the first New Zealander to express his disappointment via Twitter this morning, with other athletes quickly following suit.
The IOC's decision allows Russian athletes who haven't been convicted of doping the ability to compete.
This despite a damning report which showed state-sponsored doping dating back to 2011.
