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Officials scrambling to clear Russian Olympians for Rio
However, R-Sport news agency cited FIG’s vice president Vitaly Titov as saying that the Russian gymnasts have been cleared to compete. But there were “no grounds for further review”, the organisation said on Wednesday.
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The ruling bodies of fencing, triathlon and volleyball signed off on all of Russia’s athletes for Rio, and the taekwondo, trampoline, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and boxing teams were also expected to be approved.
The first was a visit to the Olympic Village to meet with athletes.
The Table Tennis Federation also announced that the three Russians who qualified for Rio should be allowed to compete because they were not implicated in the McLaren report, which classified one doping case in their sport as a “disappearing positive”.
If that cynicism spreads, the damage from the committee’s decision will endure long after the Olympic torch leaves Rio and hurt many beyond Russia’s Olympic team.
Weightlifters banned: The International Weightlifting Federation says 11 more weightlifters, including six silver and bronze medalists, have tested positive in retests of samples from the 2012 London Olympics.
Some Russian Olympic athletes slept a little better Sunday night.
The track and field team has been banned en masse, including world-renowned stars such as pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and high hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.
Speaking in one of the grand halls of the Kremlin on Wednesday, Putin told members of the Russian Olympic team, including those barred from Rio, that they fell victim to “double standards” imposed by “shortsighted politicians”.
The problem is so bad a former New Zealand Olympian is calling for all athletes who win medals alongside Russians not to stand on the podium during the medal ceremony.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed a political plot was to blame for banning Russian athletes from competing at the Olympic Games in Rio.
A tearful Isinbayeva lashed out at the suspension by athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, and thanked Putin for his support.
Journalist Katja Kuznetsova filmed some of the Russian team as they arrived at the airport.
But the International Olympic Committee left it up to individual sports federations to decide.
While Russia avoided a blanket ban from the International Olympic Committee, around 68 track and field athletes were ruled out after their appeal against the ban was upheld at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.
Still, with Russian athletes having won every duet and team gold since the Sydney Games in 2000, the country’s shadow hangs over all the teams.
Some federations have taken a tough line, with exclusions of much of Russia’s team from events such as rowing, canoeing and swimming.
Controversially, among the Russians banned is Yuliya Stepanova, the 800m runner who lifted the lid on systematic doping and corruption in Russian athletics.
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The head of the Australian Olympic delegation praised the fix progress and said the accommodations are one of the best villages she has been in, once issues are resolved.