IAAF to allow 21 more Russians athletes to compete as neutrals
Last Updated: 21/02/19 10:33am
The IAAF has allowed 21 more Russians, including an Olympic silver medalist Yelena Sokolova, to compete as neutrals.
Sokolova, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in long jump, can compete internationally for the first time since Russia's team was banned in 2015 over widespread doping.
Triple jumper Irina Gumenyuk has also had her approval extended from last season.
To get neutral status, Russian athletes have had to show they are clean by providing information about their drug-testing history to an IAAF panel. Thursday's approvals are the first granted since the World Anti-Doping Agency started analysing data from the Moscow laboratory last month.
A total of 64 Russians have neutral status for 2019. Seventy-three Russians had the status at some stage last season, according to Russian officials.
