Three Russians cleared to compete

MONACO: Three Russian athletes were on Thursday given the green light to compete internationally under a neutral flag by athletics’ world governing body the IAAF.

Pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova - European champion in 2014, sprinter Kristina Sivkova and hammer thrower Aleksei Sokirskii all met the “exceptional eligibility criteria” to compete in international competition as neutral athletes, the IAAF said on the same day as the entry deadline for the March 3-5 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade.

The trio join long jumper Darya Klishina and doping whistle-blower and former drugs cheat Yuliya Stepanova, who were previously declared eligible to compete.

The Russian athletics federation (RusAF) remains suspended from competition because of widespread state-sponsored doping, but individual athletes can compete as neutrals if they are proved to be drug-free.

“Their participation as neutral athletes in international competition is still subject to acceptance by the individual athlete and the organiser of the competition in question, in accordance with the rules of that competition,” the International Association of Athletics Federations added in a statement.