Eight athletes of the Russian national rowing slalom team have been granted neutral status
Eight athletes of the Russian national rowing slalom team were approved neutral status. This was announced by the head coach of the national team Maxim Obraztsov on January 17.
According to him, at the moment the athletes are at a training camp in Australia.
"They are Egor Smirnov, Nikita Gubenko, Ivan Kozlov, Alexander Kharlamtsev, Dmitry Khramtsov, Alsu Minazova, Maria Sokolova and Marina Novysh," Obraztsov told TASS.
The Russian athletes have been suspended by the International Canoe Federation since March 1, 2022.
In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended sports federations not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete.
In late March 2023, the IOC executive committee advised that only those Russian athletes who do not support the special operation should be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. It was suggested that athletes affiliated with the Russian Armed Forces and security agencies be denied participation.
After that, the federations of fencing, taekwondo, wrestling, skateboarding, table tennis and other Olympic sports made the decision to admit Russian athletes in neutral status. At the same time, a number of organizations refused to implement the IOC recommendations.
Meanwhile, President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov called the neutral status at the Olympic Games a violation of human rights, and Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the ineligibility of Russian athletes was unlawful.