IOC approves 271 Russian athletes to compete in Rio Olympics

“At no point did the International Olympic Committee, unlike the IAAF, demand publicly from the Russian sports authorities that they recognize our whistle-blowing as an important and valuable contribution for clean sport in Russia”.

Most of the rowing team has been disqualified (22 of 28 rowers).

Bach said that the declaration of athletes as being clean enough to compete allows the International Olympic Committee to send “a very clear message to the clean athletes, and particularly to the clean athletes in Russian Federation”.

It said federations should not allow Russians to compete if there could be any doubt about their doping record – and that any athletes previously sanctioned should not be in Rio. An earlier Cas ruling in 2011 ruled that so-called ‚”double jeopardy” was not enforceable.

CAS say the Olympic ban was unenforceable, saying an athlete can not be sanctioned twice for a doping offense.

The bulk of the Russian team arrived Thursday and checked into the athletes’ village, and many of them are already undergoing additional drug testing, according to reporters who attended a news conference with Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov. Meanwhile, the International Weightlifting Federation said that its sport had been “seriously damaged” on multiple occasions by Russian athletes and that banning the eight potential competitors was appropriate.

The IOC allowed most of the team to compete despite a recommendation of a total ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), after its investigators found evidence of widespread state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Instead, the IOC asked global federations to examine individual Russian athletes to determine if they should be eligible for the games.

All of this is occurring as the Opening Ceremonies kick off Friday.

Given that the Russian drug abuse was state-orchestrated, “there should have been a decision against the system, and not against individuals”, said Prokop.

“We wanted to follow the rules of justice, independent from politics”. IOC President Thomas Bach hopes that panel would be able to deliberate of the cases to ensure complete equality in the games. There are several athletes competing on their own in Rio this year who will garner some attention throughout the two week competition.

Earlier Thursday, The International Boxing Association confirmed that all 11 Russian boxers registered for the Games had been cleared to compete by the IOC panel.

“Athletes such as Yelena Isinbayeva. are absolutely clean, this is a flagrant injustice”. If you are clean, you can be respected and rewarded.

“However in contrast some other athletes, like the American runner Gatlin, have been admitted to the Games”. Because of the extent of Russia’s doping program, athletes had to prove their innocence rather than the burden of proof falling to the IOC.