The latter’s job is complicated by the fact that the International Weightlifting Federation has a rule disqualifying any country that is responsible for three or more positives from the re-testing of samples from the last two Summer Games.
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World Championships gold medalist Mariya Kuchina, right, rests with the other Russian athletes as she waits to make an attempt in the women’s high jump during the Russian Stars 2016 track and field competitions in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 28, 2016.
Russia’s Olympic committee (ROC) has removed three cyclists from the team heading to the Rio Games while three more, who were potentially implicated in the McLaren report, are under investigation, the UCI announced yesterday.
Whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova, the Russian 800m runner who lifted the lid on systematic doping fraud in her country, had been hoping to compete after being accepted by the IAAF as a neutral.
The IOC has refused to ban the entire Russian team in the wake of a widespread doping scandal, but the governing bodies from individual sports have moved to prohibit athletes from competition.
Smirnov also insisted that the government was not involved in doping, despite allegations in the report for WADA by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren that sports ministry officials oversaw a mass doping program and a cover-up.
WADA in turn has shared this information with IFs.
The International Weightlifting Federation on Friday banned the eight-strong weightlifting team, saying Russian athletes have to assume collective responsibility following positive results of seven dope tests which have been re-examined from past Olympics.
“For Russia and for the world it’s important to show that this has not buried us, that life continues, that we continue to compete and that Moscow supports its athletes”.
Russian Federation won six medals in total in weightlifting at the 2012 Olympics in London, but none of their athletes managed to capture the gold.
Vitaly Mutko tells Russian media that “as of today, 272 athletes have definitely been admitted to the Olympics”, adding that a final figure would be available Saturday.
“On one hand Russian Federation is saying they want to change their system and the culture of doping in their country”, Chiller told reporters in Rio.
Anatoly Terekhov, head of the Russian Taekwondo Union, says all Russians entered for taekwondo in Rio have been approved by the World Taekwondo Federation, in comments to Russian agency R-Sport.
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The Australians and at least eight other Olympic teams complained this week about their accommodations in the athletes’ village, citing plumbing leaks, electrical faults and dirty conditions.
