Scott Wilson Column: Russian drugs scandal shouldn't detract from the achievements of the North-East's Olympians

That is not to say, of course, that the controversies of the last few months will be forgotten. The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to pass the buck over the eligibility of Russian competitors in the wake of the recent doping scandal, with each sport’s individual governing body given the power to rule over whether Russian athletes are able to compete in Rio, has produced a messy compromise that suits no one.

Russia continue to bemoan the fact that potentially clean athletes will be excluded from Rio; much of the rest of the world is understandably dismayed at the IOC’s failure to adopt a hardline stance against a state-sponsored doping programme that completely undermined the credibility of both the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

There is a very real chance that competitors in Rio will be lining up against Russians who were part of that programme, and if any Russian claims a gold medal, their success will inevitably be tainted by suspicions of abuse.

Russian political interference continues to run deep – it is hardly a surprise that the International Judo Federation approved the application of all 11 of Russia’s proposed team members given that the organisation’s president is a certain Vladimir Putin – and in time, Rio 2016 will almost inevitably be remembered as a particularly sordid moment in the history of the Olympic movement.

But that is not to say that everything that happens in Rio should be written off as an irrelevance. Sport is nothing if not resilient, and for all the justified doubts and concerns about what we will witness during the fortnight of the Games, it will still be possible to enjoy the sight of world-class sportsmen and women striving to make history.

There’ll be Usain Bolt going for what would be an unprecedented ‘triple triple’ of Olympic sprint gold medals, having claimed the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles at both Beijing and London. In the pool, swimming legend Michael Phelps, who has come out of retirement to compete in Rio, will be looking to add to his record-breaking haul of 22 Olympic medals, 18 of which are gold.

And of course there’ll be the British legion of stars hoping to emulate the remarkable success that saw Team GB finish third in the medal table in 2012. The likes of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford, Nicola Adams, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Alastair Brownlee won’t be worrying too much about Russian cheating if they are able to celebrate another Olympic title.

Here in the North-East and North Yorkshire, we are blessed with our own pool of talented Olympians. Over the last four years – and even longer in the case of quite a few of those who will be competing in Rio – I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the 17 competitors from our region who are readying themselves to compete on the Olympic stage.

Without exception, they are remarkable examples of sporting dedication and commitment. From Bishop Auckland’s Amy Tinkler, the youngest member of the whole of Team GB at the age of just 16, to reigning Olympic champion Kat Copeland, who will be hoping to repeat her gold-medal success in the lightweight double sculls, we should be proud of those who will be representing us in Rio.

Every day, come rain, hail or shine, they push themselves to the limit, straining every sinew in order to improve their performance. They have given up so much in order to compete on the Olympic stage - it would be a crying shame if the realisation of their dream was to be overshadowed by the cheating of a rotten regime.

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RAFAEL BENITEZ’S desire to draw a line under the past at Newcastle United is both understandable and welcome. By clearing out many of the under-performing prima donnas that contributed to last season’s relegation, the Magpies manager has unquestionably enhanced his side’s chances of bouncing back at the first time of asking next season.

But when it comes to the issue of the captaincy, he shouldn’t be in a rush to overlook one of the few people to have enhanced their reputation last term.

Jamaal Lascelles produced a display of leadership and commitment that was lacking in almost all of his colleagues when he publicly questioned the attitude of some of his team-mates in the final months of last season.

That took bravery, but while Lascelles has worn the captain’s armband during most of the pre-season programme, there are suggestions that Benitez sees new signing Grant Hanley as a better long-term skipper.

Speak to those who knew him at Blackburn, and they will describe Hanley as a ‘natural leader’. He probably is. But is easy to lead a Blackburn side bobbing around in the middle of the Championship; it is much harder to put your head above the parapet in the middle of a relegation battle as Lascelles did earlier this year.

Having stood up to be counted when the going was tough, the former Nottingham Forest centre-half deserves the chance to lead what will hopefully be a winning team next season.

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WHILE we’re on the subject of players who deserve more than they might be about to get, it will be a huge shame if Dimi Konstantopoulos is jettisoned now that Middlesbrough have made it to the Premier League.

The impending arrival of Brad Guzan cannot be good news for Konstantopoulos, who started every one of Boro’s league games last season, but who now finds himself as the club’s number three shot-stopper.

Loyalty should not be blind, and Konstantopoulos, who will turn 38 in November, has made mistakes in the past.

But Guzan is hardly an error-free performer himself. Aitor Karanka appears to have something of a blind spot when it comes to signing goalkeepers – Tomas Mejias, Michael Agazzi – and bringing in Guzan to replace Konstantopoulos would be an unfathomable move.

Few would dispute the logic of signing Victor Valdes as a new number one. But if it comes to a straight choice between Guzan and Konstantopoulos as Boro’s number two, the latter should win easily every time.