271 Russians cleared for competition

Just a day before the opening ceremonies, Olympic officials cleared 271 Russian athletes to compete in Rio, according to the TASS Russian news agency. That’s roughly 70 percent of Russia’s initial delegation of 387, which means 30 percent remain banned from the Games.

After widespread doping among Russian athletes — discovered thanks to whistleblowing runner Yuliya Stepanova — a July 18 World Anti-Doping Agency report by professor Richard McLaren uncovered a systematic scheme that involved at least 20 sports over two Olympics and had been covered up for years by the country’s security services with the full knowledge of Russia’s Ministry of Sport.

WADA called for a complete ban on Russian athletes, but the International Olympic Committee passed the buck and left the call on each athlete to the 28 different international federations that oversee their respective sport.

The IOC then created a panel to review “approved” athletes cleared by each federation. Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympics Committee, told media in Rio that boxers, tennis players, judokas and shooters were among the many who received last-minute reprieves.

“We have received documents on the admission of about 270 sportspeople, now we need to do the updated counting,” Zhukov told TASS.

What does that mean for the rest of the field? Russia is a powerhouse, third in the overall medal count four years ago in London and second all-time to the U.S. in gold and total medals.

The track team is barred, with the exception of long jumper Darya Klishina. Because she lives in Florida, trains at IMG Academy and has been tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, track officials cleared her to compete as a “neutral” athlete.

Canoeing world champ Andrey Kraitor will be allowed to compete, along with 29 Russian swimmers according to Russian news agency R-Sport. The biggest name among the absentees may be pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, the world record-holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist who will miss out on what would have been her fifth Summer Games. The 34-year-old, who represented the Russian athletes at the CAS hearing, wrote on Instagram that without Russia competing, any winners would receive “pseudo-gold medals.”

Also out of the running is world high-jump champ Maria Kuchina, whose 2.0-meter jump last month is second-best in the world this year behind American Chaunte Lowe.