Russia Has 271 Athletes Cleared To Compete At Rio Olympics

Russia will have a team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Despite the World Anti-Doping Agency recommending all the country’s athletes be banned from the Rio games, the International Olympic Committee has cleared 271 Russians to compete. Five more athletes are still waiting on a decision.

A three-person IOC panel cleared, “18 shooters, 11 boxers, 11 judokas, eight tennis players, six sailors, five equestrian riders, three archers and one golfer, among others.” A Russian news agency also clams 29 swimmers and world champion canoer Andrey Kraitor were also cleared.

The country’s entire track and field team has been banned from Rio 2016 and any Russian who has served a doping ban will also be excluded. Meanwhile, the country’s weightlifting team is out, as are the 17 rowers who applied for a chance to compete. This all stems from an exhaustive investigation into a state-run doping program that infected almost every sport.

One of the most powerful nations in the international sporting arena has been decimated by the IOC and WADA’s rulings. It has been a spectacular blow to a country that has long been an Olympic heavyweight.