BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Athletes completing doping bans over the next year will be eligible to compete in the postponed Tokyo Olympics. It is an unintended effect of the coronavirus pandemic that has some crying foul. Turkish runner Gamze Bulut is one example. She will now have plenty of time to qualify for a games she likely would have missed had they gone ahead as scheduled. But Irish race walker Brendan Boyce says “it doesn’t seem like a fair punishment” because they haven’t missed the events they were supposed to miss. The 2020 Olympics were officially postponed last month for one year.

<p>BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Athletes completing doping bans over the next year will be eligible to compete in the postponed Tokyo Olympics. It is an unintended effect of the coronavirus pandemic that has some crying foul. Turkish runner Gamze Bulut is one example. She will now have plenty of time to qualify for a games she likely would have missed had they gone ahead as scheduled. But Irish race walker Brendan Boyce says “it doesn’t seem like a fair punishment” because they haven’t missed the events they were supposed to miss. The 2020 Olympics were officially postponed last month for one year.</p>

Athletes completing doping bans could now compete in new 2021 Olympics