Russia defiant after lifting setback, most athletes nominated to be in Rio
MOSCOW: Russia is confident that most of its Olympic team will be able to compete in Rio de Janeiro, but its efforts to reinstate banned athletes are a mixed bag.
Sports minister Vitaly Mutko on Friday told local media that 272 of the country’s athletes had been approved by international sports federations, out of an original team of 387, adding that the number could rise.
“As of this morning I can say that we will represent 29 disciplines out of 34, with 266 people,” minister Vitaly Mutko said in an interview with sports channel Match-TV.
Besides 67 track and field athletes banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over revelations of a state-run doping scheme, dozens more have been told not to compete in Brazil, including swimmers, rowers, and wrestlers.
Mutko said that Russia is still expecting to hear final judgement on its swimming team Saturday. “In swimming, we announced a team of 35 people, now 26 have passed the selection process,” he said, adding that he expected a final decision “today”.
COVER UP
The US Anti-Doping Agency said Friday that Olympic medallist Nikita Lobintsev has tested positive for meldonium, the substance banned in the beginning of 2016. He is one of seven swimmers who have been banned from Rio.
After the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the Russian government of directing a vast doping cover-up, the IOC said it would not allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.
Most federations have not excluded Russians on the basis of a lack of testing, but rowing and weightlifting are the exceptions. All of Russia’s weightlifters were banned from the Rio Olympics late on Friday for doping for what the international federation called “extremely shocking” results that brought the sport into “disrepute.”
The eight competition spots have been offered to other countries.
The International Weightlifting Federation said the “integrity of the weightlifting sport has been seriously damaged on multiple times and levels by the Russians.” It called the punishment an “appropriate sanction” to “preserve the status of the sport.”
To replace the eight Russian lifters, five countries were offered places in the men’s competition — Belarus, Croatia, El Salvador, Mongolia and Serbia. For the women, Albania, Georgia and Moldova became eligible.
Because of the lateness of the decision, the IWF said it was not clear whether all the spots would be filled.
World Rowing, meanwhile, has barred 19 Russians, most for insuffient tests. Testing in Russia does not count under IOC rules because of the repeated allegations made against Russia’s drug testing agency and national lab, both of which have been suspended.