15 Russians challenge IOC over Olympic snub

Fifteen Russians denied a spot at the Pyeongchang Olympics despite having life bans for doping overturned have launched a fresh bid to take part, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Wednesday.

The 15 have made an "urgent application" challenging the International Olympic Committee's decision to deny them invitations to the Games, which came after the sports court controversially lifted their life bans last week.

"They request that CAS overturn the IOC decision and allow them to participate in these Games as Olympic Athletes from Russia," a statement from the sports tribunal said, just two days before the Olympics open.

CAS's lifting of the life bans of 28 Russians was strongly criticised by the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency. Thirteen of the group have either retired or are unavailable for undisclosed reasons.

The latest appeal comes as CAS also considers a separate bid by 32 Russians, including South Korean-born speed skater Victor An, to take part in the Games.

The legal bids come after the IOC banned Russia's team from the Pyeongchang Olympics following the discovery of a widespread, state-sponsored doping scandal.

However, the IOC opened a loophole when it said a group of Russian athletes deemed "clean" could take part under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia".

Currently 167 Russians are due to compete.

Meanwhile, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is satisfied with the decision of the 132nd IOC Session in South Korea to uphold the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committees (ROC) membership, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.

On December 5, the IOC Executive Board announced its decision to suspend the whole Russian national team from taking part in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea's PyeongChang over multiple doping abuse allegations, reports Tass news agency.

The IOC, however, stated that doping-free athletes from Russia might go to the 2018 Olympic Games under the classification of neutral athletes, or the OAR status, which stands for 'Olympic Athlete from Russia'.

The IOC reserved the right to the final word in regard to Russian athletes, who will come to PyeongChang under the neutral status.

The upcoming Olympics, which are the 23rd Winter Games, will take place from February 9 to 25.