Moscow Olympic chief Alexander Zhukov said it was unfair that Russian sports stars such as double Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva would now have to watch the Games from home. Photo: Reuters
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https://scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/1999399/russia-says-271-strong-team-cleared-ioc-will-be-cleanest-rio Other Sport
Russia says 271-strong team cleared by IOC will be cleanest in Rio
Moscow Olympic chief denounces ‘flagrant injustice’
Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee, said Thursday that 271 Russian athletes have been cleared by the IOC to compete in Rio. Photo: Xinhua
Russia will be represented in most sports at the Rio Olympics, with 271 of its sportsmen and women cleared to participate ahead of the opening ceremony, Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov said on Thursday.
Russian boxers, judokas and shooters were among those given last-minute approval by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the aftermath of a doping scandal which has tarnished Russia’s reputation as a sporting superpower and threatened to split the Olympic movement.
Russia’s depleted team will comprise about 70 per cent of the 387-strong squad originally named for the Games.
The IOC chose not to impose a blanket ban on all Russian athletes at a meeting in July, but directed sports federations to allow them to compete if they met a set of criteria, including a clean doping past and sufficient testing at international events.
Zhukov said the stringent conditions meant Russia’s 271-strong team would now be the cleanest at the Rio Games.
“Not one team underwent such strict requirements as Russian athletes,” he told a news conference in Rio. “No athletes from any country ... had the rules changed to bar those previously guilty of doping.”
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva (centre) poses for a group photo with Patriarch Kirill (right) and Alexander Zhukov (left), before the country’s Olympic team left for Rio last Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Speaking to the Russian team before they left for Rio last week, Putin said Russia’s Olympic ambitions had fallen victim to a politically-motivated plot.
Zhukov said it was unfair that Russian sports stars such as double Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva would now watch the Games from home while past doping offenders including top US runner Justin Gatlin took to the field.
“Athletes such as Yelena Isinbayeva ... are absolutely clean,” he said. “This is a flagrant injustice.”