Winter Olympics: Banned Russian athletes must wait till Friday for CAS appeal
Thursday 8 February 2018 11:13, UK
Forty-five Russian athletes will have to wait until Friday, the opening day of the Pyeongchang Olympics, to find out if they can compete.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport heard the case of the 45 Russian athletes including numerous medal contenders and two coaches on Thursday.
It will announce its ruling at 11am, Friday, nine hours before the opening ceremony.
Six other Russian athletes' appeals were thrown out. CAS said it "lacked jurisdiction" to hear the cases. The six athletes include two world champion speedskaters, Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov, plus athletes from biathlon and ski jumping.
Unlike those in the group of 45, all six have previously served bans of various lengths for failed doping tests. The IOC had said it would not invite athletes previously banned for doping.
The first competitions of the Games including a USA-Russia curling match had already started when CAS heard the cases at a luxury resort in the mountains near Pyeongchang.
"We are hopeful that the panel will follow our argumentation and respect the rights of the athletes," said Philippe Baertsch, a lawyer for the group of 45 Russians who are still awaiting their verdict.
The Russians are seeking to overturn the International Olympic Committee's decision not to invite them to the Games.
Sergei Parkhomenko, the general secretary of the Russian Bobsled Federation, said athletes from his team were training in Siberia, ready to fly to South Korea at a moment's notice if CAS gives them the green light.
"We're hoping for a fair and logical decision from the court," he said. "If there's a positive ruling, they'll fly in."
