Russian Federation vowed to win a hatful of medals and hit out at the expulsion of some of their top athletes yesterday as they announced their smallest Olympic team in 104 years after a major doping scandal.
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All 11 Russian boxers who qualified for the Rio Olympics have been given the all clear to compete at the Games, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) said on Thursday.
The IOC took a soft line and on Sunday ordered individual sports federations to decide whether Russian competitors could take part in the games.
In May Fina, however, lifted her suspension after the World Anti-Doping Agency said athletes testing positive for meldonium early this year could have taken it before it was banned.
After the review, the IOC declared in Thursday’s statement: “271 athletes will form the team entered by the Russian National Olympic Committee from the original entry list of 389 athletes”.
The world’s top Olympic official also said that all collected doping samples from the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil would be stored for the next ten years and would be subjected for re-tests at any moment. “At no point did the International Olympic Committee, unlike the IAAF, demand publicly from the Russian sports authorities that they recognize our whistle-blowing as an important and valuable contribution for clean sport in Russia”.
Zhukov told reporters that no team has been drug tested as much as Russian Federation.
An independent investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency released findings in July that confirmed “beyond a reasonable doubt” and amassed new evidence on what whistle-blowers had already alleged: Russia’s sports ministry, anti-doping body, and secret service ran – and tried to cover up – a mass-dopingscheme.
“We think it’s unfair that some Russian athletes like Yelena Isinbayeva and Shubenkov, who have never been accused of doping, are not allowed to compete this time“, Zhukov told a press conference.
That report resulted in the Russian track and field team being banned from worldwide competition, and the global Association of Athletics Federations extended that ban through the Olympics. He was categorical about the “serious allegations against the Russian minister of sport”, and said that it was decided, “no Russian sports minister will receive accreditation for Rio”.
Bach also defended the IOC’s decision not to take the “nuclear option” of issuing a blanket ban on Russian athletes at the Games, stating that would be unfair to clean athletes within the country.
At least 271 sportsmen and women will represent Russian Federation at the Rio Olympic Games.
WADA spokesperson, Ben Nichols, told CNN Wednesday, meanwhile, that his organization had been consistent in recommending an all-out ban that was supported widely by governments, athletes and the public.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has criticised WADA s handling of the crisis and said the anti-doping system needs a total overhaul.
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The primary whistleblower in the Russian doping case, Yuliya Sepanova, will not compete.
