27 Russian athletes cleared to compete internationally as neutrals
Moscow, May 22 (EFE).- World Athletics on Saturday published a list of 27 Russian athletes who can participate in international competition as neutral sportspersons, but only 10 of them will compete at Tokyo’s Olympics.
Four of these athletes have already been cleared to compete in April, including world champions Mariya Lasitskene (high jump) and Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault); Ilya Ivanyuk (high jump) and Aksana Gataullina (pole vault).
The 23-athlete list includes eight race-walkers; seven jumpers (height, triple, length and pole vault); two sprinters, two runners, three throwers and a marathoner.
It will be the Russian athletics federation that chooses 10 athletes to compete at the Olympics, according to the world athletics governing body, who turned down two applications.
Athletes who have been undergoing doping tests outside Russia should have the priority within the announced list, World Athletics said in a statement.
They are eligible for the Olympics, World Athletics Series and the 2021 European U23 Championships, the statement read.
The competitions’ organizers will have the final decision on the participation of the Russians as neutral athletes, the statement added.
The 28-year-old Lasitskene, a three-time world champion, has not been able to take part in the Olympics.
The World Athletics Council announced on 21 March it had reinstated the Russian athletes to the Authorized Neutral Athletes program after the Russia federation approved a rehabilitation roadmap.
The Russian federation has been suspended since November 2015 for covering up doping cases among top athletes. EFE
