Russian Federation nominated eight weightlifters to compete in Rio but Tatiana Kashirina, who won a silver medal at the London Olympics in the women’s +75kg category, and Anastasiia Romanova were withdrawn due to previous anti-doping rule violations.
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However, only one track and field athlete, long jumper Darya Klishina, has been given the green light with the country essentially suspended from the Games in that sport.
The International Olympic Committee now requires athletes to be individually approved by international sports federations and rejected if they previously were banned for doping offenses or implicated in the alleged cover-up.
Bach and the International Olympic Committee have been roundly criticized by anti-doping bodies, athletes’ groups and Western media for not imposing a total ban on Russian Federation.
Last Monday, swimming’s world governing body Fina banned both swimmers, along with their Russian compatriot Daria Ustinova, because their names appeared in Richard McLaren’s damning report into state-directed doping in Russia.
On Saturday, the International Federation of Natation (FINA) is expected to consider allowing to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro of Russian swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev.
The president of Russia’s Olympic Committee Aleksandr Zhukov confirmed on Friday that at least 270 Russian athletes have been given the green light to participate in the competition, which start on August 5.
“WADA in turn has shared this information with IFs”, he said.
The ban is part of a large-scale doping scandal involving Russian athletes across many sports, including the track and field team.
Russia’s weightlifting team was barred on Friday from participating in the Rio Olympics due to doping.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutkov told Match TV on Saturday that the country will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport this weekend.
The IWF Executive Board carefully studied question of the participation of Russian weightlifters in the Olympic Games Rio.
An IOC program commission report released on Friday said the five sports are a blend of the traditional and emerging, youth-focused events, and all have global and local appeal.
Until now, he said, the focus of his investigation was to look into evidence of a “state-dictated program which used the Moscow and Sochi laboratories to cover up doping”.
The IWF ruled earlier on same day to disqualify the entire weightlifting team from the Games over the multiple cases of violation of anti-doping rules.
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“They procrastinated until the last minute and didn’t leave a chance of organizational or legal steps for the team of a country where weightlifting has always been a leading sports discipline and a brand identity”, he said.
