- Russia will send only 10 athletes to compete in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, following repeated drug scandals
- Since 2015, the Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended from World Athletics after an investigation revealed that the doping of its athletes was widespread
- Plans to lift the suspension were ended in 2019 when Russian officials were caught after falsifying documents to provide excuses for an athlete who missed a doping test
MOSCOW, Russia: Russia will send only 10 athletes to compete in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, following repeated drug scandals.
Three-time high jump world champion Mariya Lasitskene will be attending for Russia, along with world champion Anzhelika Sidorova and 2015 world 110-meter hurdles champion Sergei Shubenkov.
Since 2015, the Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended from World Athletics after an investigation revealed that the doping of its athletes was widespread.
Plans to lift the suspension were ended in 2019 when Russian officials were caught after falsifying documents to provide excuses for an athlete who missed a doping test. That case led to the banning of five senior Russian officials, including a former athletics federation president.
Following the investigation, World Athletics announced they would allow only 10 Russian athletes to attend the Tokyo Olympics.
Of note, more than 12 major weightlifting nations will have limits on their teams at the Tokyo Olympics due to the use of illegal steroids.
Further, Russia is competing under the acronym “ROC” for the Russian Olympic Committee at the Tokyo Olympics after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last year, due to laboratory data being manipulated while in storage in Moscow.
Subsequently, the Russian name, flag and anthem have been temporarily banned.
