Russia to be represented by at least 271 competitors at Olympic Games
Thursday 4 August 2016 23:36, UK
Russia's Olympic Committee (ROC) has confirmed at least 271 "clean" competitors will represent the country at the Olympic Games in Rio.
ROC president Alexander Zhukov revealed the number admitted to the Games on Thursday evening and said he was hopeful five more would be admitted after hearings at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Zhukov said the cases involved three track cyclists, one participant in canoeing and free wrestler Viktor Lebedev, with decisions expected before Friday's opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the figure of 271 but, as well as the five waiting for appeals, CAS opened the door for more potential Russian team members to compete by saying bans for athletes previously sanctioned for doping offences were 'unenforceable', sending the eligibilty question back to the individual sport.
The International Rowing Federation will now have to rule "without delay" on Anastasia Karabelshikova and Ivan Podshivalov, who had appealed to CAS.
Four-times world champion Yulia Efimova also had her appeal partially upheld with CAS sending the case back to swimming's governing body FINA.
The IOC ruled out a blanket ban on all Russian competitors, despite the implications of state-sponsored doping in WADA's McLaren Report, and left decisions to individual sports federations.
Zhukov also issued a guarantee that all Russian competitors taking part in Rio are clean and have undergone vigorous testing before being granted a place in the team.
And he revealed a special anti-doping committee has been set up to restore faith in their sport and their clean athletes, as well as look into what happened within their own system.
Russia originally entered 387 names for the Olympics but more than a hundred have been withdrawn because of past doping offences.
Only Russia's track and field athletes faced a complete ban, with the only participant allowed to compete - long jumper Darya Klishina - doing so as a neutral.
Since the IAAF decision to ban all of their athletes, weightlifting also confirmed no Russian competitors would be allowed, but Zhukov says the majority of sports will feature participants from the nation.
