Bolt declined to comment further on whether the whole Russian team should be banned from the games in Rio de Janeiro – a decision the International Olympic Committee said it will make within the next week.
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– Athletics “funeral” – ======================= The 67 included two time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and world champion men’s 110m hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.
“This (ban on track and field athletes) will scare a lot of people, or send a strong message that the sport is serious, we want a clean sport”.
Athletes from a variety of sports including track and field were gathered at a sponsor’s event in Moscow ahead of a ruling, while outside the capital preparations were under way for a Russian domestic track and field championship featuring potential Olympic contenders.
“Beyond Rio the IAAF Taskforce will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean safe environment for its athletes so that its federation and team can return to global recognition and competition”, Coe added.
Reeb said the CAS panel “expressed some concern” over the IAAF rule adopted last month that allowed for Russian athletes who have been subjected to regular anti-doping tests outside Russia to apply for exemptions to compete as “neutral athletes” in Rio.
But on Thursday, the CAS ruled the IAAF decision will stand.
In the meantime, the federations that govern sports in the Olympic summer programme are meeting today to discuss their response to the crisis, with several believed to be on the verge of following the IAAF’s lead in banning their Russian member association. The IAAF said it had received 136 applications from Russian athletes earlier this month.
The CAS on Thursday also dismissed the appeals of those rejected by IAAF, confirming that virtually Russia’s entire track field team is excluded.
The ruling does not prevent other organization from making their own decisions.
The IOC executive board on Tuesday said it would “explore the legal options” for a possible total ban on Russian Federation, but would wait until after the CAS ruling before making a final decision.
Russia’s sporting prowess extends beyond track and field.
Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko called the CAS ruling “politicised” and illegal however. The Russian federation has appealed against the decision and is awaiting a final verdict. “There is a criminal investigation open into its former president”. “The IOC decision on the participation of the Russian athletes will be taken in the coming days”.
They ROC and 68 athletes also asked CAS to declare eligible for Rio any Russian athlete who is not now serving a suspension for an anti-doping rule violation.
Most of Russia’s track and field athletes were gathered competing at the country’s national track and field competition outside Moscow. Officers of Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, were also involved in the cheating, which included swapping of doping samples at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, McLaren found.
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Ekaterina Koneva, a triple-jumper, said the decision made her feel “just emptiness”.
