85 Russian Athletes Barred from Rio Olympics Over Doping

International federations in canoeing and modern pentathlon ruled out seven athletes Tuesday, including an Olympic gold medalist, following earlier rulings in swimming and rowing. Some appeals are likely.

Alexander Dyachenko, an Olympic champion in 2012, was among the five canoeists named in a recent report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), alleging a state-sponsored doping cover-up.

Dyachenko won gold in the men’s double kayak 200 meters at the 2012 London Games.

The four other banned canoeists are Alexei Korovashkov, a 2012 bronze medalist in the C2 1,000 meters event; Andrei Kraitor, Elena Anyushina and Nataliya Podolskaya.

The International Modern Pentathlon Union announced Maxim Kustov and Ilya Frolov had been barred from the Rio Olympic Games, saying they both were mentioned in WADA’s recent report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the doping issue with his national security council, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media.

«The topic of the recent International Olympic Committee ruling relating to Russian athletes was raised ahead of Putin’s planned meeting tomorrow with the Russian Olympic team,» Peskov said.

The largest group of Russian athletes barred from the Rio Olympics are in track and field, where 67 were ruled out when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on the Russian team last week.

WADA’s most recent report compiled by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren detailed an elaborate doping system in Russia directed by the sports ministry that affected more than 30 sports.

Some material for this report came from AP,  AFP and Reuters.