In the continuing fallout of a scathing report outlining egregious and systematic Russian doping violations, the entire Russian weightlifting team has been banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Vitaly Mutko tells Russian media that “as of today, 272 athletes have definitely been admitted to the Olympics”, adding that a final figure would be available Saturday.
Russian Federation had originally planned to send a 387-person team.
The International Rowing Federation is the only other body to have banned Russians not directly implicated in either the report or in a previous failure.
The 31st Summer Olympic Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 5 through 21.
BOXING – The International Boxing Association is yet to announce a decision on 11 Russian boxers.
London Games gold medallist Alexander Dyachenko, Andrey Kraitor, Alexey Korovashkov along with Elena Aniushina and Natalia Podolskaia have been banned.
They also expressed their wish to highlight the “extremely shocking and disappointing statistics” regarding Russian weightlifters.
GYMNASTICS – The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said on Thursday that it had sent the names of Russian gymnasts eligible for participation at the Games to the IOC for verification. I was told that tests should be regular, while the worldwide federation impedes this in every possible way.
On Wednesday, the IAAF upheld its decision to extend its ban on almost all Russian track and field athletes from participating in global competitions.
Four other Russian lifters were named in the McLaren report.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkey could also face a ban if the International Olympic Committee confirm the remaining Beijing 2008 and London 2012 re-tested cases before the Games begin. The most interesting thing is that doping tests made on the same day are considered as one test.
The IOC has been roundly criticized by anti-doping bodies, athletes groups and Western media for not imposing a total ban on Russian Federation. Pavel Sozykin was the lone athlete banned from competing.
Instead, they asked individual federations to make the call on who should be cleared for the Games.
Russian Federation says its taekwondo team has been approved to compete at the Rio Olympics against the backdrop of the country’s doping scandal.
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While many individual athletes have been banned from the games in recent days, Russia’s group of 68 track and field athletes is the only other team to receive a complete ban so far.
