International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said Wednesday in Tokyo that Japan can be confident of weeding out drug cheats at the 2020 Tokyo Games, in the wake of a doping scandal that led to Russia being banned from next year's Pyeongchang Olympics.
"I think you can be very relaxed," Coates said at a news conference to wrap up the end of the fifth IOC Coordination Committee meeting. "We can't be relaxed but you've certainly laid the groundwork over many, many years for an anti-doping system during the Tokyo Games that will be of the very highest integrity."
Russia was last week banned from next year's Winter Olympics as punishment for a massive state-sponsored doping operation at the 2014 Sochi Games. Russian athletes may compete in Pyeongchang if they pass testing, but they are not allowed to compete under the country's flag.