Russian Group training in Brazil

Photo by Dmitry Kornev

Olympic Russian Team of Rhythmic Gymnastics is finaly not banned by the IOC, as some newspapers said a week ago. The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the teleconference has decided not to suspend the entire Russian team to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This committee gave full authority on the admission of specific athletes and teams in some sports international federations. At the meeting, the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Alexander Zhukov. He assured that Russia and the ROC will cooperate with all international organizations, commissions of the IOC and WADA in all directions.

Early this week, Russian team flied to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for Olympic Preparation.

The gymnasts who are in the entry list of Rio are:

• Yana Kudryavtseva, Margarita Mamun, as individual Senior Gymnasts
• Anastasiya Maksimova, Anastasiya Bliznyuk, Vera Biryukova, Anastasiya Tatareva and Mariya Tolkacheva, as Senior Group Gymnasts

Yana Kudryavtseva (RUS)

Margarita Mamun (RUS)

“We are really happy we could compete in Rio. We were afraid of IOC’s decision. We have never tested positive and we would never do”