Over 100 Russian para-athletes send requests to IPC for Rio Games

More than 100 Russian para-athletes have filed individual appeals with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for admission to the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) said on Tuesday.

"Chairman of the Executive Committee, First Vice President of the Russian Paralympic Committee Pavel Rozhkov said that more than 100 Russian athletes of the total 266 candidates for participation in the Paralympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, except for team sports (Sitting Volleyball, Goalball, Football 5x5, Football 7x7 -- 54 people) filed personal appeals with the International Paralympic Committee for admission to the Paralympics 2016", the statement says.

The IPC ruled on August 7 to suspend the whole Russian Paralympic team from taking part in the 2016 Summer Paralympics. The decision came after a report was delivered earlier in the summer by the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) alleging a state-run doping programme for Russian athletes, reports Tass.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday rejected the RPC's appeal against the ban on its participation in the September 7-18 Rio Paralympics.

There are six track and fielders among the athletes who applied to the IPC: Dmitry Dushkin, Anna Pimutkina, Yevgeny Malykh, Olesya Baisarina, Yan Shkulka (all of them are persons with lesions of the musculoskeletal system) and Vitaly Telesh (blind sport), as well as Olga Pozdnysheva (judo for blind athletes). Vladimir Balynets (powerlifting, 49 kg), Stepanida Artakhinova (para-archery, compound bow, ST) and Anastasiya Diodorova (swimming) represent Russia's Yakutia republic.

--IANS

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