Pyeongchang: A group of 13 Russians lost Thursday a last-ditch bid to beat their country’s doping ban and take part in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the day before the opening ceremony.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is also dealing with 47 other Russian appeals, said it ‘lacked jurisdiction’ to deal with the six athletes and seven doctors, coaches and support staff. It said separately that a decision over the 47 others attempting to gain late entry into the Olympics would be announced Friday at 11 am. That will be just nine hours before the inauguration.
The CAS drew criticism last week when it lifted life Olympic bans imposed on 28 Russians. But when 15 of them applied to take part in Pyeongchang, the IOC refused to give them invitations.
Currently the Olympic Athletes from Russia number 168 – the fourth biggest team behind USA, Canada and Switzerland. However, they will march under the neutral flag.
Rough start
Ganggeung: Olympic athletes from Russia (OAR) made their debut at the 2018 Olympics Thursday but were routed by the United States as mixed doubles curling launched competition at the Pyeongchang Games.
Americans brother and sister Matt and Becca Hamilton ripped the husband-and-wife team of Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and Anastasia Bryzgalova 9-3 in the first Pyeongchang Games result and in Olympic history for the debut event.
The Russians entered under the Olympic flag as their homeland’s banner and anthem were banned along with many athletes in the wake of major doping violations at the Sochi 2014 Olympics.
The Hamiltons jumped ahead 3-0 and needed only seven of eight ends to take the most lopsided win of the opening round-robin session. While the official opening ceremony is Friday, an 18-day Olympic sports programme began when South Korea’s Jang Hye-Ji slid the first stone down the curling ice.
She and Lee Ki-Jeong beat Finland 9-4. Other opening results saw Norway down Canada 9-6 and Switzerland beat China 7-5 before a near-capacity crowd of 3,000 at Gangneung Curling Centre.
agency france-presse
