Athletics New Zealand is calling on the International Olympic Committee not to offer a dispensation for Russian athletes and allow them to compete at the Rio Games.
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In its ruling Friday, the IAAF said that there is a “tiny crack in the door” for clean athletes who live and train outside of Russian Federation to be able to compete independently, but Isinbayeva dismissed this idea.
Russian athletes’ hopes of competing in the Rio Olympics are now at the mercy of the International Olympic Committee after world athletics’ governing body unanimously upheld its ban on the country for systematic doping on Friday, saying not enough progress had been made in reform.
Earlier on Friday, IAAF officially announced the decision to uphold the Russian Athletics Federation’s ban for IAAF membership.
The IAAF, however, did pass a rule amendment stating that if an individual athlete can, “clearly and convincingly show that they are not tainted by the Russian system” they may apply to compete as a neutral athlete. “Nobody defended us. Nobody fought for our rights and there are huge concerns over IAAF itself and its stance on defending the rights of clean athletes”.
“Clean athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to training and who never sought to gain unfair advantage through doping should not be punished for the past actions of other individuals”, Mutko wrote.
The IOC said it had “taken note” of the IAAF ruling and that its executive board will meet by teleconference Saturday to “discuss the appropriate next steps”.
Russian Federation was suspended from track and field by the IAAF in November after an independent report from WADA revealed widespread state-sponsored doping. I’ll prove to the IAAF and Wada that they have made a wrong decision.
Coe said the unanimous decision by the 25 members of the IAAF council to maintain the ban sends “a very clear signal to athletes and the public about our intention to reform our sport”.
The IAAF Council was due to hear from Andersen again on Friday, and from Russian representatives.
The 800m runner and her husband Vitaliy were the whistleblowers who helped uncover just how rotten the Russian system had become when they first took their story to WADA and then to a German documentary-maker.
The news came about 24 hours after Isinbayeva’s biggest rival, defending Olympic champion Jenn Suhr of the United States, said it would be a shame if the Russian couldn’t compete.
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The IAAF task force recommended she be allowed to compete because of the “extraordinary contribution” she made to the anti-doping effort.
