“Justice will certainly prevail!” the Russian president told the athletes. By 4:15 p.m. GMT on Wednesday, 19 Russians were still nervously waiting clearance for the Games.
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Australia team spokesman Mike Tancred said up to 60 delegation members – evenly split between athletes and staff – were checking in.
By yesterday, the number of Russian athletes banned from Rio had grown to 108, with more expected.
The two sports that took the biggest hits are rowing and track and field.
Dressed in national uniform, the athletes walked across Red Square to meet President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
“Unfortunately there is not enough of a sporting culture at the moment so that sportsmen understand the significance of these negative occurrences”.
Lists of Russian athletes approved by global federations must still be approved by CAS arbiters who can reject athletes not tested outside Russia.
The 29-year-old Jamaican has won six Olympic gold medals – the 100, 200 and sprint relays at Beijing in 2008 and at London in 2012 – and is the undisputed star of track and field.
BOXING – The International Boxing Association is yet to announce a decision on 11 Russian boxers.
The track-and-field athletes who will compete in Moscow on Thursday include hurdle racer Sergei Shubenkov, incumbent world champion in a 110-meters race; high jumpers Maria Kuchina, Olympic Champion Ivan Ukhov and Daniil Tsyplakov; javelin throwers Dmitry Tarabin and Vera Rebrik; triple jumper Yekaterina Koneva.
Fencing, triathlon and volleyball join archery, badminton, equestrian, judo, shooting and tennis in approving all of Russia’s proposed athletes for the Rio Games, which start on August 5. “The Olympics and Paralympics celebrate the best of humanity”.
World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren, who wrote the WADA report, says he found evidence the cheating was state-sponsored.
Russian Federation announced that more than 250 athletes have been cleared to compete in the Rio Olympics next month even as President Vladimir Putin charged that Russia’s over 100 doping-related suspensions amounted to “discrimination”.
The IAAF, of course, had already made its judgement, accepting only the applications of long jumper Darya Klishina and 800m runner Yuliya Stepanova, who was subsequently blocked by the International Olympic Committee for having previously served a drugs ban.
In his statement, whistleblower Rodchenkov alleged that he assisted in doctoring urine samples provided by Russian athletes during overnight shifts at the Sochi Games.
“I will be undoubtedly following the developments at the Olympic Games, except for track and field competitions”, Isinbayeva said in an interview with TASS.
At the Kremlin reception Putin further cranked up the emotion by inviting two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva to address the team. Stepanov is married to former Russian middle-distance runner Yuliya Stepanova, who backed up the claims.
The Olympic leadership was wise to avoid a blanket ban, which would have fuelled Russia’s sense that it’s being made a scapegoat.
Meanwhile, volleyball player Alexander Markin told local media he had been dropped due to a positive test earlier this year for the banned substance meldonium, even though he had not been banned.
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Nobody implicated may be accepted for entry or accreditation for the Olympic Games.. “They took from us the goal that had kept us going and motivated us to keep pushing our own limits every day”, she said.
