Less than a week before the opening of the Olympics, IOC leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro this weekend to review the final preparations for the games and deal with the fallout from the doping scandal that has led to the exclusion of more than 100 Russian athletes.
Advertisement
Russian Federation says its taekwondo team has been approved to compete at the Rio Olympics against the backdrop of the country’s doping scandal.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced on Friday that Russia’s eight-member team would not be allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics.
“They have got us fired up but in a good way”, said handball player Polina Kuznetsova of the cheering crowd at Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport. “They disqualified us in the rudest way but we continue to compete”.
“…the absence of Russian sportspeople – leaders in many sporting disciplines – will significantly affect the intensity of the competition and diminish the spectator value of the forthcoming events”.
While many insisted to the contrary, spectators reported a strong sense of defiance and opposition against the decision to ban Russian athletes from the Olympics.
Kopeikin added that he would not watch any Olympic events in which Russian Federation was not taking part.
Terekhov says he received a letter from the WTF and that “we were told that all three of our athletes have officially been admitted to compete in the Olympic Games”.
In a statement the UCI said it was satisfied the 11 riders it had cleared had fulfilled the criteria laid down by the International Olympic Committee on Sunday.
About 110 Russian athletes have been banned by their sports federation, usually for past doping violations or other evidence they took illegal substances. These rulings must still be ratified by CAS.
TRIATHLON – The International Triathlon Union has cleared all six Russian athletes for the Rio Games.
Speaking to CNN for the first time since their evidence came to light in 2014, Vitaly Stepanov, a former employee at the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, and his wife, 800 meter runner Yulia Stepanova, said the International Olympic Committee missed a crucial opportunity to dismantle Russia’s doping culture.
Rio de Janeiro, July 29 (IANS): Hundreds of sportspersons have moved into the Olympic Village that seems to have left behind the problems which generated complaints when it first opened on July 24.
Advertisement
Smirnov told local media Thursday that the new commission would be independent of the government, despite containing several senior figures with links to the Kremlin. “In Russia there is not, and never has been, any state support for doping”.
