Five Russian athletes cleared to compete as neutrals

PARIS: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said Thursday it had cleared five more Russian athletes to return to international events, albeit competing under a neutral banner and not representing Russia.

Athletics’ governing body banned Russia in November 2015 because of evidence of state-sponsored doping, but Russian athletes cleared by the IAAF can compete as neutrals. The athletes concerned are Elizaveta Kamenets, Alexander Komarov, Rail Kutuev, Liliia Mendaeva and Aleksey Shevchuk, and they take to 68 the number of Russians cleared to compete since the start of 2019.