The Russians were barred en masse from the Olympics after revelations of a state-sponsored doping programme.
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Earlier today, the International Association of Athletics Federations announced that it had banned Russian long jumper Darya Klishina from competing, just days out from her event, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Klishina defended herself, saying she is clean, and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Bulgarian runner Silvia Danekova complained…
“On August 6, the panel of the IAAF that deals with doping issues chose to once again consider the information received from the author of the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Richard McLaren – in particular the part that talks about Darya Klishina”.
“That withdrawal was based on new information received by us and shared with Darya last week”. On August 12 Klishina received the statement of reasons for such decision.
The secretary-general for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Matthieu Reeb, confirmed the appeal to CNN via email but had no further details. Why did they wait until the beginning of the competition here at the Olympic Games?
Russia’s sole track and field competitor at the Rio Olympics, Darya Klishina, has been suspended from the Games, a source told Reuters on Saturday.
Former European champion Klishina had only been allowed to compete in Rio after the IAAF accepted her application because she is based in the States. Individual Russian athletes could apply to the IAAF for exemptions to compete in Rio if they could prove they were not involved in the system and were subjected to drug tests outside the country.
Following the commission’s report, WADA recommended the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and all international sports federations ban Russian athletes from all international sports competitions, including Rio 2016.
Some Russian athletes who featured in that report were able to regain their Olympic spots on appeal to CAS, though others were refused. The court said it expected to rule by Monday, the eve of women’s long jump qualifying round.
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The doping inquiry has cast a pall over the Games, fomenting what some have called an “anti-Russian atmosphere” in Rio and prompting the International Paralympic Committee to exclude Russia from its own Games next month.
