Speedskater wants IOC to explain why he’s

MOSCOW» Six-time Olympic gold medalist Viktor Ahn wants to know why he has been barred from next month’s PyeongChang Games.

Ahn is a short-track speedskater who was born in South Korea but switched allegiance to Russia before the 2014 Sochi Games.

Russian officials said the International Olympic Committee has refused to grant Ahn an invitation amid its vetting of the country’s athletes for possible doping links.

“It is outrageous that there is no concrete reason which explains my exclusion from the Olympics, and furthermore people now view me as an athlete who used doping,” Ahn wrote in an open letter to IOC president Thomas Bach.

Competing in South Korea would have been “an especially significant part of my career for several reasons,” said Ahn, who won his first three Olympic titles while competing for his native country. “I hope that the IOC will ultimately declare their reason for my exclusion, so I will be able to defend my honor and dignity.”

Ahn’s letter was published Friday by the Russian Skating Union — hours before the IOC published its rules of conduct for Russian athletes and officials who will be at the PyeongChang Games.

All Russian athletes must sign an IOC-drafted integrity declaration confirming they are not currently under investigation for a doping violation, and agree to be removed from the team if their statement proves incorrect.

The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, when asked about Ahn’s letter, said Russia would support all athletes, whether they take part in the Olympics or are barred.

“Intensive contacts are under way with the International Olympic Committee to clarify the situation and so that the interests of our athletes who are able to take part in the Olympics are completely secured and respected,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“There are athletes who are disputing their rights in a legal context. There are athletes who are appealing to public opinion. There are athletes who are appealing to the Olympic committee leadership. That is their right.”

The IOC hasn’t confirmed which Russians will be invited to compete at the PyeongChang Games, and hasn’t explained any individual decisions.