A depleted Russia squad has flown to Rio ahead of the Olympic Games
By Mark Crellin
Last Updated: 28/07/16 12:14pm
Around 70 Russian competitors have flown to Rio ahead of next month's Olympic Games amid continuing doubt about how many members of the country's 387-strong squad will be allowed to take part.
Over 100 Russians have been banned from the Games due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. The track and field team has been banned en masse, including world-renowned stars such as pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and high hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.
But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced last weekend that, rather than impose a blanket ban on Russian competitors, global sporting federations would make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Rowers, swimmers, weightlifters and canoeists have subsequently been added to the excluded list, but it was announced on Thursday that four Russian badminton players are in the draws for Rio while Russia's volleyball, handball and synchronised swimming squads flew out that day.
Alexander Zhukov, the head of Russia's Olympic Committee, said: "We anxiously waited for this day, we worried. You know yourselves what the situation is.
"It is now time to put all doubts aside, the Russian team is going to the Olympics."
Dressed in red and white sports uniforms the Olympic hopefuls received a warm send-off despite the controversy.
Handball player Polina Kuznetsova said: "They have got us fired up but in a good way. We are going to fight more, to prove that it is difficult to break Russia.
"We will fight for those who were not able to go."
Zhukov said less than 100 Russian competitors were still waiting to find out their fates and that the final make-up of the team should be announced over the weekend, just a few days before the start of the Games.
Vladimir Malkov and Natalia Perminova are set to participate in the men's and women's badminton singles, while Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov will line up in the men's doubles.
Badminton World Federation (BWF) Secretary General Thomas Lund said: "We have had a rigid drug-testing programme, especially leading up to Rio 2016, and all four Russian athletes have been tested in and out of competition and their samples have been analysed outside of Russia.
"We believe the information that we have provided on these athletes lives up to the criteria for participation in the Badminton Competition at Rio 2016, but it is left for the IOC to validate.
"We have chosen to keep them in the draw, pending that validation."
