Russia’s track and field team including Isinbayeva and Co was already banned from Rio over statesponsored doping, but its Olympic Committee last week optimistically named a 387strong squad for the Games.
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A leave-taking ceremony for the Russian Olympic team was held early on Thursday morning at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.
A statement from UWW’s special commission said: “Sixteen of the 17 Russian wrestlers entered to compete at the Olympic Games are cleared to be considered for acceptance by the International Olympic Committee/Court of Arbitration for Sport”.
“We’re after medals, that’s it”, handball player Anna Sen said. But given president Vladimir Putin has said the Olympics are going to be far less of a spectacle without his Russian athletes competing, you can be sure Stars will be a must-watch event for the hundred or so people interested in turning up.
Meanwhile, Sergei Tetyukhin, the captain of the Russian men’s volleyball team, will carry the country’s flag during the opening ceremony, twice Olympic pole vault champion Isinbayeva said.
Putin wished the best performance to the Russian Olympic team members at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Putin claimed the Games would be “less of a spectacle” as a result of a “deliberate campaign targeting our athletes”.
The exact numbers will depend on the court of arbitration for sport, who will scrutinise each Russian athlete passed by the global federations in the coming days.
The world’s saddest sporting event is slated for Moscow on Thursday, as Russian Federation hosts Stars 2016, a made-up-on-the-spot track and field meet for all its athletes banned from the Rio Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee’s new television channel will launch officially August 21, the last day of this year’s Rio de Janeiro Games, as the organization looks to attract a new generation of fans. They have won a medal in every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. A recent report by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren alleged a jaw-dropping level of state-sponsored doping and coverups of hundreds of failed drug tests.
“Russia welcomes the decision to allow clean athletes to participate in the Rio Olympics”.
Russian fencers are cleared to compete at Rio after the sport’s governing body found no grounds to exclude any of the team for doping.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko wrote to the IAAF on Monday to get the ban overturned.
“There are high expectations because of the passion of Brazilians for sport, their joy of life, the fantastic venue we’re going to see – it will be a great Olympic atmosphere”. This follows a previous report by the same agency documenting rampant doping among Russia’s track and field athletes.
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“On one hand Russian Federation is saying they want to change their system and the culture of doping in their country”, Chiller told reporters on Thursday.
