bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova joyfully announced on Friday that she’s been cleared to compete in the Rio Olympics after a convoluted drugs case that highlighted the confusion sparked by the Russian doping scandal.
“I’m going to the Olympics,” the breaststroke world champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist said on Instagram.
“I couldn’t be more proud and relieved.”
WATCH: Highlights of delegations’ parade and lighting of the Olympic cauldron


Efimova had been provisionally suspended by swimming governing body Fina in March after a positive test for meldonium, the endurance-boosting drug banned as of January.
‘Suspicious’ move to drop teenager as China try to make most of Russian weightlifting ban
She was facing a lifetime ban as a two-time offender after serving a 16-month suspension after testing positive for the steroid DHEA in late 2013.
Five Hong Kong Olympians to watch in Rio


In May Fina, however, lifted her suspension after the World Anti-Doping Agency said athletes testing positive for meldonium early this year could have taken it before it was banned.

But when Fina issued a list of seven Russian swimmers banned in the wake of the damning McLaren Report on state-backed doping in Russia, Efimova’s name was on it.
Russia says 271-strong team cleared by IOC will be cleanest in Rio
Efimova, like others, took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which wrestled with a welter of appeals right up until Friday’s opening ceremony in the confusion that followed the International Olympic Committee’s refusal to issue a blanket ban of Russia.
Russian swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev, both banned after their names came up in the independent probe that found Russian officials manipulated drug test samples, were reinstated on Thursday.


Tsunami-hit Tonga’s oiled-up Olympic flag bearer Pita Taufatofua raises over US$340,000 in disaster aid

Former Chinese volleyball star Wei Qiuyue donates Olympic gold medal to country’s sports museum

Liu Xiaotong retires: Chinese Olympic volleyball champion to become a coach, saying ‘the thing I missed most was my passion’

Rio 2016 race walk champion Liu Hong retires after fourth place in National Games

Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Olympic dream rekindled: Russia’s Yulia Efimova says she’s cleared to swim in Rio

Russia’s Yuliya Efimova will now be allowed to compete in Rio after her ban was overturned. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this July 27, 2012, file photo, Russia's Yulia Efimova prepares for a practice session at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. Swimming governing body FINA has ruled seven Russian swimmers ineligible to compete at the Olympics, including three it says were linked to recent allegations of a major doping cover-up by Russian authorities. Reigning world 100-meter breaststroke champion Yulia Efimova is among four Russian swimmers who FINA says were withdrawn by the Russian Swimming Federation because they previously served doping bans. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2009 file photo Russia's Yuliya Efimova reacts after winning the final of the women's 50-meter breaststroke, at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome. Rules to limit high-tech swimsuits have made it to another Olympics, but some wonder if the status quo will remain in place after Rio. That prospect is anathema to those who remember what happened only seven years ago in Rome, when a decade of radical changes in swimsuit design became pure farce with the introduction of rubberized bodysuits. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Sport

Other Sport

Russian swimmer joyfully announces she’s been cleared to compete in the Olympics after a convoluted drugs case that highlighted the confusion sparked by the Russian doping scandal


Russian doping scandal

Olympic dream rekindled: Russia’s Yulia Efimova says she’s cleared to swim in Rio

.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}WATCH: Highlights of delegations’ parade and lighting of the Olympic cauldron

WATCH: Highlights of delegations’ parade and lighting of the Olympic cauldron