IAAF confirms Rio ban on Russian long jumper Klishina
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has confirmed that Russian long jumper Daria Klishina has been banned from competing at the 2016 Olympic Games, just a day after she landed in Rio de Janeiro.
Russian track and field athletes were excluded from competing at the Rio 2016 Olympics due to the disqualification of the national federation amidst allegations of a state-run doping scandal.
The 25-year-old hopeful recently posted images on her arrival in Rio to her Instagram account.
Initially, only Klishina, who lives and trains overseas from Russia, was cleared to compete at the Games. However, she has now been banned.
“[Klishina] has been stripped of her exceptional pass on the basis of new information received last week,” the IAAF said.
Earlier, the Court of Arbitration (CAS) Secretary General Matthieu Reeb confirmed to TASS, in reference to questions on Klishina, that an application had been received against the ruling.
In a statement, the CAS said it would arrive at a final decision on Klishina’s appeal on Sunday 14, before midnight.
The IAAF, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been invited by the court to take part in the proceedings as “interested parties.”
In a statement Saturday, Klishina said she was appealing the decision and "seeking an emergency hearing this weekend for a decision to be made as soon as possible by the highest court in sports about my eligibility in Rio."
She added: "I am a clean athlete and have proved that already many times and beyond any doubt." The long jumper also said that she has been based in the US for three years and "almost exclusively tested outside of the Anti-Doping system in question."
Russian sports publication Sovetsky Sport earlier circulated information that Klishina had been excluded from competing in the Games on the IAAF ruling, after the federation reviewed information presented in a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
"On August 10, the IAAF’s anti-doping panel made a decision to ban Darya Klishina from the Olympic Games. On August 12, Klishina received a statement of reasons for the decision. Today, on August 13, Darya Klishina filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport," the newspaper added.
The reports were confirmed by All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who said, "There are contradictory reports but we have confirmation from sources in Rio de Janeiro that Daria [Klishina] was banned at the last moment," Shlyakhtin said.
Dmitry Svishchev, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, expressed his disappointment at the decision.
“While it is disappointing information, if this is the case then I am outraged. Klishina, aside from the fact she is an athlete, she is a human being. What is this? Initially they allowed it, but now they strip her of this right.
“Originally it was surprising to me, how they allowed her to compete, given that the entire Russian team was banned. But they cleared her, and she went to Rio, this is a doubly confusing decision. It is an abuse of power,” Svishchev told R-Sport over the phone.
The final of the women’s long jump takes place on August 17.
