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IOC registers 169 Russian athletes for PyeongChang 2018 Olympics

They can get accredited

© EPA-EFE/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has registered 169 Russian athletes to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, Russian Olympic Committee Vice President Stanislav Pozdnyakov, head of the Russian Olympic delegation, told TASS on Saturday.

On Thursday, Russia’s Olympic Committee released a final application of the Russian Olympic team for the 2018 Olympics that included 169 athletes. Among them are speed skater Olga Graf, lugers Semen Pavlichenko and Roman Repilov, figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva, ice dancers Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, short track speed skater Semen Elistratov, snowboarders Vic Wild and Alena Zavarzina.

"Today the IOC officially registered the lists of athletes and Russian delegation in their system. Henceforth, they are de facto in it and can get accredited," Pozdnyakov said.

On December 5, the IOC Executive Board announced its decision to suspend the entire Russian national team from taking part in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang over multiple doping abuse allegations.

The IOC, however, stated that doping-free athletes from Russia might go to the 2018 Olympic Games under the classification of neutral athletes, or the OAR status, which stands for ‘Olympic Athlete from Russia.’

The IOC admitted 169 Russian athletes to the Games. They will compete under the Olympic banner as "Olympic athletes from Russia" in the wake of the sanctions slapped against the Russian Olympic Committee. IOC earlier announced it would not invite some leading Russian athletes to the Olympics, among who are short-track skater Viktor Ahn, biathlete Anton Shipulin, skier Sergei Ustyugov, speed skaters Pavel Kulizhnikov and Denis Yuskov, and figure skaters Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin.

The upcoming Olympics, which are the 23rd Winter Games, will take place in South Korea’s PyeongChang on February 9-25, 2018.

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