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Post by Admin on Jun 18, 2016 1:47:25 GMT
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has upheld the ban on Russia's track and field team, including for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "Although good progress has been made, the IAAF council was unanimous that RUSAF (Russian Athletic Federation) had not met the reinstatement conditions," IAAF head Sebastian Coe said at a press conference in Vienna. "And the Russian athletes could not credibly return to international competition without undermining the confidence of their competitors and the public. As a result, RUSAF has not been reinstated to membership of the IAAF at this stage". While the ruling appears final, the main hope of competing in Rio for Russian athletes who have not been found guilty of doping lies with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which meets with other sports bodies next Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland. There, officials will look into “whether and if individual athletes should be given individual justice,” the Guardian reports.
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Post by Admin on Jun 20, 2016 1:55:11 GMT
Two Russian athletes said Sunday they have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the IAAF's ban on the Russian team competing in Olympic track and field. The IAAF, track and field's world governing body, on Friday upheld a suspension of the Russian team imposed in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread, state-sponsored doping. Race walkers Denis Nizhegorodov and Svetlana Vasilyeva argue that a ban of the entire team is unfair punishment. Nizhegorodov, an Olympic silver medalist in 2004, says “competing at the Olympics is the main goal and main honor. We will get that right,” in comments on agent Andrei Mitkov's website.
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Post by Admin on Jun 27, 2016 1:52:57 GMT
The Olympic Games are still more than a month away, but the number of Americans expected to attend has plummeted over concerns about Brazil's insecurity, political instability and the ever-spreading Zika virus. Original estimates had about 200,000 Americans expected to attend the Rio Games, but a senior U.S. official said that number is now closer to 100,000. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue. Security contractors and U.S. companies say many people just don't feel comfortable spending weeks in Brazil with all the troubling news they've been hearing from the South American country. "The majority of our members decided to skip the Games and not go, which is a really sad statement about the Olympics because they're a wonderful event," said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, a Boston-based firm that has provided security and logistics for Americans in previous Olympics. "People are concerned, and their concerns are not unwarranted."
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Post by Admin on Jul 6, 2016 1:42:44 GMT
Russia has appealed a ban of its athletics team from next month's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro over doping, the country's Olympic committee said Sunday. Russian Olympic Committee spokesman Konstantin Vybornov confirmed to The Associated Press by e-mail that the appeal had been filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and would be heard July 19. If Russia wins, the Olympic application deadline "will be extended" to let Russian athletes apply, the ROC's legal department head Alexandra Brilliantova told the Tass news agency. The case is being brought jointly by the ROC and dozens of top Russian athletes.
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Post by Admin on Jul 10, 2016 1:50:52 GMT
Two members of the Australian Paralympic team are recovering after being robbed at gunpoint near their hotel in Rio. In addition to safety, there are also worries about Zika, a newly declared state of financial emergency, Brazil's impeached president and allegations of corruption. The president of the International Olympic Committee came to Rio to check on the city's progress and unveil the summer Olympics medals. "Brazil needs now the most, something which is unifying the country because we see, from outside, we see deep divisions," said IOC President Thomas Bach. With just over six weeks from the start of the Olympic Games, almost all of the venues at Rio's Olympic park are now complete, but all over the city, they are still rushing to get a lot of work done, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
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