Court set to rule on Russian athletes

RUSSIA could move a step closer to a blanket ban from next month’s Olympic Games if the Court of Arbitration for Sport backs the IAAF’s suspension of their track and field team at an appeal hearing in Lausanne today.

With the International Olympic Committee considering its legal options in the wake of a damning report that laid bare the extent of the country’s doping problem, calls have been growing for the toughest of sanctions to punish the Russians for covering up over 300 failed drugs tests since 2011.

The door has been left open by the IOC for individuals to potentially plead their case and prove their innocence in time for Rio with the IAAF granting two athletes, adjudged clean, permission to take part.

That, argues badminton’s Olympian Kirsty Gilmour, is a route that might find some favour among the competitor fraternity who want assurances they will not be cheated out of a medal.

“There is a Russian girl in the singles,” the Scot said. “So I don’t know what might happen with her. I saw the World AntiDoping Agency report and badminton wasn’t among the sports where a test had been covered up. Some individual cases will have to be looked at, because it seems unfair if people are being punished when they haven’t done anything.”

Swimming, which sat among the largest number of corrupted tests with 18 unpunished dopers, is seen as particularly vulnerable to exclusion with evidence yet to be explored surrounding the testing regime at last year’s World Championships.

Olympic swimmer Hannah Miley insisted. “It’s frustrating as an athlete because I know I’m clean and it’s something you can’t control. But that means I can’t get too worked up about it.”