Some 270 Russian athletes cleared for Rio Games – president of national Olympic committee

August 4, 2016 at 13:19

About 270 Russian athletes have been cleared to compete at the summer Olympics in Rio, according to the head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, Aleksandr Zhukov.

Documents providing the participation of "some 270" sportsmen and women have been received from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Zhukov told TASS on Thursday.

A "final count" is required to release the exact number, he added.

Earlier, Zhukov had expressed hopes that up to 280 Russian athletes would be cleared to compete in the Games, which open on Friday.

Last month, the IOC decided not to ban the entire Russian team from taking part in the Rio Olympics following a doping scandal.

International sports federations were tasked to rule on whether to clear Russian athletes for participation, before an independent IOC panel of three officials gave a final verdict.

A press conference with IOC President Thomas Bach has started, where he is expected to officially announce the panel's final ruling.

A list of the Russian team published on the official Rio 2016 website currently includes 276 athletes, to compete in 177 events in 34 sports.