32 Russians appeal for spots in the Olympics

Six-time Olympic gold medalist Viktor Ahn and three former NHL players are among 32 Russian athletes who filed appeals Tuesday seeking spots at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The 32 athletes all failed to pass the mandatory International Olympic Committee vetting – imposed as a result of Russian doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics – and weren’t invited to the games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it would likely hear the case Wednesday in Pyeongchang. If the Russian athletes force the IOC to invite them, it would mean the medal contenders in some sports change dramatically only days before the games open on Friday.

CAS added that as well as short-track speedskating great Ahn, the 32 include world cross-country skiing champion Sergei Ustyugov and world biathlon champion Anton Shipulin.

Also on the list are former NHL players Sergei Plotnikov, Anton Belov and Valeri Nichushkin, who had been considered possible candidates for the Russian team in Pyeongchang.

If figure skater Ksenia Stolbova is invited, she could compete as soon as Friday morning in the pairs short program component of the team event.

Some of the 32 Russians are already in Far East countries such as Japan so they will be acclimatized and ready to travel to Pyeongchang if invited.

Ailing bobsledder hopes to compete: American bobsled pilot Justin Olsen hopes to compete at the Olympics despite having had a successful appendectomy on the eve of the Pyeongchang Games.

U.S. bobsled officials said that Olsen, who is from San Antonio, Texas, went to a hospital in the coastal city of Gangneung on Monday and is trying to recover so he can compete in events starting Feb. 18.

Officials said they’re discussing options if Olsen can’t race.

Pyeongchang is Olsen’s third Olympics. He was on the four-man gold-medal winning team at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

IOC meeting kick off with a bang: IOC President Thomas Bach called it “a lively and spirited debate.”

That’s an understatement.

With the Winter Olympics set to open in only three days, Bach faced a barrage of criticism – and entrenched support – from roughly 100 International Olympic Committee members over the decision to exclude many Russian athletes from the Pyeongchang Games.

Two members – Richard Pound and Gerardo Werthein – got into a nasty exchange in the spacious meeting room.