MOSCOW — Two Russian athletes have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the IAAF’s ban on the Russian team competing in Olympic track and field.
The IAAF, track and field’s world governing body, on Friday upheld a suspension for the Russian team imposed in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread, state-sponsored doping.
Race-walkers Denis Nizhegorodov and Svetlana Vasilyeva argue that a ban of the entire team is unfair punishment.
Nizhegorodov, an Olympic silver medalist in 2004, says “competing at the Olympics is the main goal and main honor. We will get that right,” in comments on agent Andrei Mitkov’s website.
Russian race-walking is among the events most seriously affected by doping. Russia voluntarily withdrew its walking team from last year’s world championship over doping concerns.