Russia to award suspended 2016 Paralympic medallists prizes worth $61,800

Russian Paralympians who participated in the countrys recent championship after being barred from the 2016 Games in Brazil, will be awarded prize money of up to $61,800 for taking the top three positions, the Russian government has announced.

According to the information posted on the government's official website on Tuesday, the gold medal winners of the Russian championship held earlier in the month following their suspension from the 2016 Rio Paralympics, will total over $61,800, the silver medallists will be awarded $38,650 and the bronze medal winners will receive $26,280, reports Tass.

On August 7, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) decided to bar the entire Russian Paralympic team from taking part in the 2016 Summer Paralympics. The ruling came on the heels of a report delivered earlier in the summer by the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The commission, led by Canadian sports law professor Richard McLaren, claimed in particular that a total of 35 doping samples were concealed in the Russian Paralympic sports between 2012 and 2015. However, it turned out later that not all the stated cases of concealed doping samples concerned the Russian Paralympic Committee. Nevertheless, the IPC decided on collectively punishing the Russian national team.

The RPC filed a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on August 15 in Lausanne against the IPC's decision, but eight days later, the Swiss-based court ruled to uphold the ban slapped on the whole Russian Paralympic squad.

In late August, the RPC submitted a motion with the Supreme Federal Court of Switzerland appealing the decision made earlier by the CAS. The motion was eventually rejected by the federal court.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in early September that Russia would organise alternative competitive events for the barred Russian Paralympic team and the awards for Paralympians would be equal to those promised at the 2016 Rio Games.

The alternative competitions for the banned Russian Paralympians were held on September 8 and 9 at the sports facilities in the Moscow Region. A total of 263 athletes took part in the two-day tournament, competing in 18 sports.

--IANS

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