All 11 Russia boxers declared eligible for Rio

Eleven of those 18 are related to the Russian doping crisis that continues to dominate headlines in Rio, with the opening ceremony just two days away now but no firm answer on how big Russia’s team will be.

A Russian wrestler, Viktor Lebidev, has also made an appeal against bans ordered over Russia’s state-organised use of banned substances.

On Thursday, football golden boy Neymar’s Brazil start their campaign for a first-ever football gold in a match against South Africa.

“This problem of doping does exist in Russian Federation, but it also exists in the rest of the world”.

“This is not about destroying structures”, IOC President Thomas Bach said, referring to WADA.

WADA hit back by saying it acted as quickly as possible over the doping revelations.

“The IOC is calling for a more robust and efficient anti-doping system”, Bach added.

“At times WADA has seemed to be more interested in publicity and self-promotion rather than doing its job as a regulator, acting with transparency, and looking after the best interest of clean athletes”.

“It should be noted however that Professor McLaren’s focus thus far was on establishing involvement of the Russian State and not regarding individual athletes that may have benefited”.

“It was only when CBS 60 Minutes and the New York Times, on May 8 and 12, 2016 respectively, published the allegations from the former director of the Moscow and Sochi laboratories, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, that Wada had concrete evidence suggesting Russian state involvement that could be investigated by initiating the McLaren Investigation, which we did immediately”, said Reedie.

Reedie said he spoke later with both men and addressed their concerns.

“I think it’s not the reputation of the International Olympic Committee that has to be restored, it’s the reputation of WADA”, said Israeli member Alex Gilady.

WADA, which was created by the International Olympic Committee in 1999 to lead the anti-doping fight, and receives half of its funding from the International Olympic Committee, issued a long statement defending itself.

Bach said it would be wrong to make individual Russian athletes “collateral damage” for the wrongdoing of their government.

There will be no Russian weightlifters at the Rio Olympics after CAS rejected the country’s appeal against a ban imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation.

Once all federations have reported and CAS has ruled on the appeals, a three-member International Olympic Committee panel will decide the final Russian lineup.

Efimova, who won a 200m breaststroke bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, follows Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev in taking her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Decisions on the swimmers had been expected on Tuesday.

After a conference call by its Executive Board on July 24, the IOC urged worldwide federations for winter sports events to suspend preparations for major competitions in Russia.

“In weightlifting, the position of our representative to the global organisation is not clear”, he said. Assisting athletes in numerous ways, the members will, for instance, help them with their career planning via the IOC’s Athletes Career Programme; spread the word about injury prevention thanks to the IOC’s innovative and free Get Set smartphone app; or introduce them to the Olympic Athletes’ Hub.