Russians May Compete At Rio Under Their Own Flag

The incoming director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has said it could be years before the results of August’s Rio Olympics are upheld.

If the Russian Olympic Committee was looking for mercy from the International Olympic Committee, it did not receive it.

Kenya will cooperate fully with WADA and International Olympic Committee (IOC) on its latest requirement to re-test Kenyan athletes ahead of the Rio Olympics.

The Russian track federation is considering an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the IAAF ruling. Athletes later implicated included London 2012 women’s 800m gold medallist Mariya Savinova and marathon runner Liliya Shobukova.

Russian Federation has asked the International Olympic Committee to clarify how its track and field athletes can qualify for exemptions and compete at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to ban all Russian track and field athletes from participating at the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to its president Thomas Bach.

A total of 55 athletes had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in those re-tests in recent weeks, none of whom would compete in Rio, the International Olympic Committee said. “And the Russian Olympic Committee is not suspended”.

Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva had almost abandoned all hope of ending her stellar career with a third Olympic gold in Rio, saying she would hang up her spikes at a far less glamourous event on the banks of the Volga.

Russia’s athletics team can’t compete in Rio after the IAAF last week upheld a suspension imposed a year ago.

Just like that, a real chance for accountability turned into appeasement.

“We have discussed this decision with the IAAF”, he said.

Probst was seated next to Zhukov, who was expected to issue a plea for Russians athletes with a clean doping record to be allowed to compete.

The IAAF last week opened the door to a small group of Russian athletes who live and undergo reliable drug-testing outside the country to apply to compete as “neutral” athletes in Rio not under the Russian flag. It’s unclear what flag, if any, those athletes would compete under.

No decision was taken on the possible participation at the games by Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova.

The statement says “individual athletes in Russian Federation are willing to demonstrate their innocence and prove they are clean”. Earlier this month, in fact, the IOC approved a 10-person refugee team that will compete under the Olympic flag.

Kenya, known for its middle and distance running pedigree, has been under intense global scrutiny over doping.

The doping crisis extends beyond Russia’s track and field athletes and beyond Russian Federation itself.

“But beyond all doubt, we intend to defend the interests of our sportsmen – I mean, those sportsmen who are not associated in any way with doping use”.

“Out of the several thousand samples taken from Russian athletes in and out of competition over this period, only three turned out to be positive, including one in athletics, for substances other than (recently banned) meldonium”, which was found in 49 samples, he said.

WADA’s final report is due by July 15.

“The Russian ban is the right way for Rio but, beyond that, the world needs to help Russia become compliant, because the quality and value of all competition is diminished if a nation of that size and sporting ambition is absent long term”.