Another one of the athletes not listed to compete is Yuliya Stepanova who, despite being a Russian athlete barred from competing in Rio, probably isn’t too popular in the Motherland after blowing the lid on the doping going on in the country.
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Russian fencers are cleared to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after the sport’s governing body found no grounds to exclude any of the team for doping.
While most of Russia’s banned athletes will compete in Moscow, it appears not all of their athletes are entirely on board with the idea.
McLaren said his studies prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Russia’s antidoping federation and sports ministry concocted a cheating scheme that occurred in 30 sports including 20 summer sports.
Still, with Russian athletes having won every duet and team gold since the Sydney Games in 2000, the country’s shadow hangs over all the teams.
Concern over Rio de Janeiro’s preparations erupted on Sunday when the Australian delegation said it would not stay in the Olympic Village, as the housing was “not safe or ready” amid problems with leaky plumbing, blocked toilets and exposed wires.
The IOC will launch its new Olympic Channel next month following the closing ceremony of the Rio Games.
Global sports federations, aside from the IAAF, have since Sunday been vetting Russian competitors’ suitability for Rio after a damning report last week revealed rampant state-run doping across Russian sport.
Australia’s Olympic team chief Kitty Chiller celebrated the news, despite the short notice.
At least 105 athletes from the 387-strong Russian Olympic team announced last week have been barred from the Rio Games in connection with the country’s doping scandal. On Tuesday, the federation said that 17 entered rowers and two of the coxes did not meet conditions to take part but six Russian rowers were cleared for Rio.
Putin spoke with two-time Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva, the most high-profile of the 67 track and field athletes banned from the games, standing beside him at the Kremlin, Moscow on 27 July 2016.
With less than two weeks to go until the August 5 Opening Ceremonies, the International Olympic Committee must now decide whether further sanctions will be imposed on Russian athletes in other sports.
A blanket ban has been implemented for the 68-person team, although Darya Kilshina – a long jumper who spent the last three years training in the United States – has been approved to compete internationally under a neutral flag.
“As soon as we show our programmes, there are elements that are taken and copied”, Russia’s star synchro athlete Romashina said.
It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of Dollars 3.25 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.
The Rio Games will not only see a lack of Russian competitors, but powerful leaders as well.
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Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko wrote to the IAAF on Monday to get the ban overturned.
