As of Saturday, the Russian national team to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro unites 266 athletes, representing 29 kinds of sports, Russia’s Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko said in an interview with Match TV.
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All of Russia’s weightlifters were banned from the Rio Olympics on Friday for doping after the global federation called “extremely shocking” results brought the sport into “disrepute”.
“(…) we would like to highlight the extremely shocking and disappointing statistics regarding the Russian weightlifters”, the document said.
The International Weightlifting Federation said the “integrity of the weightlifting sport has been seriously damaged on multiple times and levels by the Russians”.
Their bans came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week handed the responsibility of banning Russian athletes back to the relevant sports federations.
All Russian athletes sanctioned for doping in the past have been excluded from the Games.
“Efimova’s personal appeal has been submitted, her personal lawyer Artem Patsev has confirmed this fact”, the federation’s press service told R-Sport.
More than 100, however, have been barred, including the track and field team banned by the IAAF and more than 30 other athletes rejected under new International Olympic Committee eligibility criteria.
Nikita Lobintsev took a silver medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2012 Olympics in London.
“They should have made a decision to permit all athletes with spotless reputation (to the Games, )” he said, specifically referring to Oleg Chen and David Berdzhanyan.
Kashirina and Romanova both had their nominations withdrawn by the Russian Olympic Committee due to prior anti-doping rule violations, added the IWF statement.
“The final decision has been taken already”, Mr Adams said.
He added that the process would be completed by Friday, the day the Games open. “There was no big drama”, he said.
The athletes village has also been criticised by some delegations about conditions.
The IWF Executive Board carefully studied question of the participation of Russian weightlifters in the Olympic Games Rio.
More than 80 per cent of the tickets available for the Rio Olympics have been sold, organisers said on Saturday.
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The IOC asked the International Federations to “apply their respective rules in relation to the sanctioning of entire NFs”. The high-school athlete had been the youngest South Korean to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games.
