Bach said the presence of the IOC’s Olympic refugee team – comprising 10 athletes who have fled war or poverty to compete in Rio – was a riposte to a world “where selfishness is gaining ground, where certain people claim to be superior to others”.
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Also Thursday, the International Olympic Committee rule barring Russian athletes with prior doping sanctions from competing in the games was rejected as “unenforceable” by a sports arbitration panel, a decision which could open the door to further appeals and more Russians being entered.
The official start of the Olympic Games: the elaborate and colorful Opening Ceremonies or the first headlines announcing athletes getting busted for doping?
Bach, who has faced criticism in recent weeks for his decision not to ban Russian Federation from the Games over a doping scandal, said the August 5-21 sporting extravaganza would send a message of hope to the watching world.
Instead, the IOC asked global federations to examine each individual Russian athlete to determine if they should be eligible to compete. The IOC set up a panel of three executive board members to review the entries and make the final call, taking into account the advice of an independent sports arbitrator.
Stepanova, who helped expose state-backed doping in Russian sport and has fled the country, had been ruled out when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned from Rio any Russian who had served a doping suspension.
“The Russian team may have experienced the toughest checks of the Olympics, because they had to go through multiple tests and [checks]”, Zhukov said.
Russia’s track and field team remains barred following an earlier decision by the IAAF.
The 2016 Summer Olympics have finally arrived and like any major sporting event, there are plenty of big numbers involved.
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The Rio Olympics begin today with about a third of Russia/’s original 389 competitors having been banned.
