IAAF Allows 18 Russians to Compete in International Events as Neutral Athletes

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has approved the applications of 18 Russians to compete as neutral athletes in international competitions in 2018.

Earlier in the day, the IAAF published a list of Russian athletes who have met the exceptional eligibility criteria by the Association's Doping Review Board to compete in international competitions as neutral athletes. The list includes 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) and Aleksei Sokyrskii (hammer throw).

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All these athletes had their status as Authorized Neutral Athletes (ANA) in 2017, that is why they filed simplified applications for 2018. The IAAF is still to consider over 20 simplified applications and about 50 ordinary ones.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) told Sputnik that the RusAF had sent a letter to the IAAF with the request to clarify the status of the filed applications and to expedite, if possible, the processing, as some athletes had filed their applications in December and by mid-January they had already expressed concern about possible disruption of their plans for participating in competition.

A total of 47 Russians were allowed by the IAAF to participate in international competitions as neutral athletes in 2017, while 98 athletes received denials, mainly due to insufficient number of doping tests. A total of 19 Russian athletes took part in the 2017 World Championships as neutral athletes.

Athletes Were Sure to Get ANA Status Prolonged

High jumper Lasitskene's spokeswoman Olga Nazarova told Sputnik that the team was sure to get their ANA status prolonged.

"We have already had a plan of Masha's performances in international competition. On February 6, she will compete in a tournament in Banska Bystrica, on February 8 — in Madrid at an IAAF round, on February 15 — Polish Torun, on February 25 — in Glasgow, and afterwards in the world championships in Birmingham," Nazarova said.

High jumper Danil Lysenko also said that he was concerned only about the date of the official permission.

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"We filed the application in December. Everyone thought they would allow us to compete, but time… anticipation and the competition is getting closer and closer. And finally the approval has come, so now we will have more tranquility," Lysenko told Sputnik.

According to Pavel Voronkov, the spokesman for pole vaulter Sidorova and Lysenko, the latter will leave for the Czech Republic on Friday to participate in two events in Hustopece and Trinec. Sidorova will compete in French Avon on February 9, Voronkov said, adding that both athletes plan to take part in the world championships in Birmingham on March 1-4.

"We are very happy that this event, which we have been waiting for almost a month, has finally happened. We hope that the list will increase, we are waiting for preparations for the world cup and excellent performance of athletes in this competition. Many things need to be done now, first of all the federation will provide the athletes with visa support. We are very happy for the athletes and their coaches," Andrey Kruporushnikov, the RusAF sports director, told Sputnik.

RusAF was suspended from the IAAF in November 2015 over the allegations by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of numerous breaches of global anti-doping regulations in Russia. In November 2017, the IAAF Council prolonged the suspension.