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Russian athletes competing
Twenty more Russians have been given permission by the World Athletics Doping Review Board to compete as Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) in 2021. There are now 143 ANA athletes and only five have been rejected.
The ANA program gives Russian athletes the opportunity to compete under a neutral flag, should they meet anti-doping criteria.
However, the Russian Athletics Federation is permitted to select just 10 athletes to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The cap of 10 athletes applies to all other championship competitions, including World Athletics Championships. Currently, there appears to be no limit on the number of Russian athletes with ANA status who may participate in other international competitions.
The disgraced federation has been suspended since November 2015.
The Russians are apparently sending a delegation of more than 300 people to Tokyo.
The 10 Russian in Tokyo includes three world champions including high jumper Mariya Lasitskene, pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova and 110-metre hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.
Racewalkers Vasily Mizinov, who won silver at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships, and Elvira Khasanova, long jumper Darya Klishina, hammer throw athlete Valery Pronkin and high jumpers Ilya Ivanyuk and Mikhail Akimenko have also been selected.
Russian racewalkers have been some of the most notorious and obvious dopers allege competing racewalkers including London Olympic gold medallist Jared Tallent of Australia.
When is a ban official? Zero Russian athletes should be permitted to attend the Olympic Games. Case closed.
Sweden’s qualified 800m runner, Lovisa Lindh, 800m staying home
Lovisa Lindh, 800-metre runner, is not selected for the Tokyo Olympics Games by the Swedish Olympic Committee. This, despite the fact that she has met World Athletics criteria in competition during the qualification period.
She took to social media, “I have never felt so disappointed before. Tokyo has been my biggest motivation for five years,” said the 29-year-old. “Being let down…hurts more than all the stress fractures combined.”
Sweden feels that Lindh will not reach top-16, 12, or 8, which, if she did would result in more funding for athletics in the Scandanavian country. This is self-serving. The athlete in question is guaranteed to not finish top-16 if she is not there. Often global championships bring out the best in athletes.
Could you imagine an NBA team declining a spot in the playoffs because they were the last seed & unlikely to win?
— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) July 17, 2021
Of course not.
In track, that occurs all the time with countries not taking athletes who met Olympic qualifying because they have a lower likelihood of medalling
She ran 1:58.77 in 2018. On July 4 this year, she ran a 1:59.76 in a domestic meet in Stockholm. The Olympic qualification mark is 1:59.50, however, she lands within the world-ranking system to qualify under that criteria.
American Cole Hocker not vaccinated
American middle-distance runner Cole Hocker is not vaccinated.
The 20-year-old Indianapolis native won the 1500m event at the US Olympic Trials. He is the youngest to represent the United States in an Olympics in the event since 1968. He is a three-time NCAA champion but he is not vaccinated.
Meanwhile, athletes from various sports are under quarantine or have been sent home for testing positive for COVID-19. The Japanese are not allowing spectators at any events throughout the Olympics. Meanwhile, Japan is ranked 34th in the world in infection rates with a relatively low death rate. In parts of Europe and the US, fans are permitted into stadiums.
Although the pandemic is uncharted territory for sports and entertainment, the cacophony of chaos is loud. Noisier than any stadium will be during the Tokyo Olympic Games.
