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Putin grants Russian citizenship to Australian track cyclist Shane Perkins

Australian track cyclist Shane Perkins is two-time World Champion and 2012 Olympics bronze medalist

Shane Perkins EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA

Shane Perkins

© EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting a Russian citizenship to Australian track cyclist Shane Perkins, who is two-time World Champion and 2012 Olympics bronze medalist.

The decree signed by the Russian president stated "to grant the citizenship of the Russian Federation to Perkins Shane, born on December 30, 1986 in Australia."

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The 30-year-old Australian racer announced in February that the Russian Cycling Federation (RCF) offered him an opportunity of qualifying for the national team’s roster of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Perkins, however, said that he had no intentions of refusing his Australian citizenship in spite of seeking ways to obtain a passport of a Russian citizen.

Competing for Team Moscow at this year’s Russian track cycling championship, Perkins won gold in men’s team sprint.

Perkins won bronze in sprint at the 2012 Olympics in London, won the World Championship twice (in 2011 and 2012) in addition his silver and bronze medals of the world championships, which he grabbed in 2010 and 2006 respectively.

He was not included in the Australian Olympic roster for the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.

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