By Modupe Oremule
Lagos – The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Doping Review Board has cleared 18 Russian athletes to compete in international competitions as neutral athletes.
IAAF, in a statement on Thursday said the Russian national federation (RusAF), however, remained suspended.
It said that in December 2017, the IAAF issued a simplified application process for 2017 Authorised Neutral Athletes to reapply for continued eligibility to compete in international competitions in 2018.
“Since publication of the simplified application and updated guidelines under Rule 22.1A (b) in December, the IAAF has received over 80 applications from Russian athletes many of whom are wishing to compete in the summer season.
“The Doping Review Board is prioritising, wherever possible,’’ it said.
It added that the applicants were wishing to compete in IAAF World Indoor Tour meetings and at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, Birmingham 2018.
It gave the athletes names as: Viktor Butenko, (discus) , Danila Danilov,(Hammer throw), Alexsey Fedorov (Triple jump), Irina Gumenyuk (Triple jump), Vyacheslav Kolesnichenko (Sprints), Mariya Lasitskene (High jump), Aleksandr Lesnoy (shot put).
Alyona Lutkovskaya (Pole vault), Danil Lysenko (High jump), Alaina Mamina (Sprints), Yuliya Maltseva (discus), Polina Miller (sprints), Ilya Mudrov (Pole vault), Olga Mullina (Pole vault), Sofiya Palkina (Hammer throw).
Viktoriya Prokopenko (Triple jump), Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault), Aleksei Sokyrskii (Hammer throw).
The IAAF explained the participation of the cleared athletes as neutral athletes in international competition was still “subject to acceptance of their entries by individual meeting organisers.’’
Sebastian Coe, IAAF President, said: “Throughout this process, we have continued to support the aspirations of all clean athletes to participate in our major competitions.
“With access to new information from WADA at the end of last year the Doping Review Board is assessing all applications against this information as well as existing information.
“It is a complex and lengthy process and once again, I wish to thank the Doping Review Board and the Athletics Integrity Unit for their dedication and diligence to the task at hand.
“As this is an ongoing process, the IAAF will only make announcements as and when decisions are made by the Doping Review Board concerning successful applications and those athletes have been informed”.
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