The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an appeal by 17 Russians against their ban from the Rio Games, Olympic specialist website Inside the Games reported on Tuesday, with further bans expected to be upheld over the next two days.
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On July 24, the IOC placed the burden on global sports federations to determine if Russian athletes should be allowed to compete in Rio.
The IOC has been roundly criticized by many anti-doping bodies, athletes’ groups and Western media for not applying a complete ban on the Russian team. That followed an investigation for the World Anti-Doping Agency that detailed state-sponsored cheating in Russian Federation.
“The nominations were then reviewed by a three-person panel appointed by the International Olympic Committee and an expert from the Court of Arbitration for Sport”.
Phelps was chosen to carry the US flag in Friday night’s opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium.
With the Rio de Janeiro Olympics set to open, anxious International Olympic Committee members grilled top organizing officials about traffic jams, water pollution, security, and the absence of signage that gives the games its own distinct look.
Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said the team was “probably the cleanest in Rio” because of all the tests and checks they have undergone.
Bach said it would be wrong to make individual Russian athletes “collateral damage” for the wrongdoing of their government.
Rafael Nadal is ready to play in the Olympics after being sidelined with a wrist injury for more than two months.
“The IOC is not responsible for the timing of the McLaren report”, Bach said.
Mutko insists “there is no state system of doping in Russian Federation”.
Russia, accused of operating a huge state-orchestrated doping system, will now have its smallest Olympic team for more than a century for the Games which start on Friday.
“‘I don’t think that this in the end will be damaging because people will realize we have to take this decision now”, Bach said.
The Panel lists three members and they are: Ugur Erdener, the head of the IOC Medical Commission; Claudia Bokel, an IOC Executive Board Member and the Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission; and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., an IOC Executive Board Member.
They were asking for immediate approval to compete, which they have not been granted, but sport’s highest court has ruled against the IOC’s attempt to bar Russian Federation from entering any athlete who has been sanctioned before.
Pan says: “We know that we have a long way to go to be a strong nation in winter sports”.
French President Francois Hollande is wasting no time pushing his country as a potential 2024 Olympics host, making an on-site bid in Rio de Janeiro.
The chief spokesman for the Rio Olympics says, “I can guarantee in the name of Rio 2016 that the athletes can compete in safety”.
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In fact, this will be the first time he’s participated in the opening ceremony, which can be a grueling experience requiring athletes to spend hours on their feet.
