Russia’s Darya Klishina cleared to compete as ‘neutral’ athlete at Rio 2016

Athletics’ world governing body, the IAAF, said in a statement that 25-year-old long jumper, who trains at the IMG Academy in Florida, had become the second athlete to meet its “exceptional eligibility criteria”.

A file picture dated August 28, 2011 shows Darya Klishina from Russia react during the Women's Long Jump final at the 13th IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Republic of Korea. Franck Robichon / EPA

Russian long jumper Darya Klishina has been cleared to compete as a “neutral” athlete at the Rio Olympics, the IAAF has announced.

Athletics’ world governing body said in a statement that Klishina, 25, who trains at the IMG Academy in Florida, had become the second athlete to meet its “exceptional eligibility criteria”.

But Russian news agency TASS said all other applications from Russian athletes, including pole vault great Yelena Isinbayeva, had been rejected.

The head of the legal department at the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexandra Brilliantova, was quoted by TASS as saying: “The refusals were received by everyone, except for Klishina.”

See also:

• IAAF: Clean Russian athletes can compete at Rio Olympics as 'neutrals'

• IAAF unanimously vote to extend Russia ban, hope given to 'neutrals' to compete at Rio Olympics

Doping whistle-blower Yuliya Stepanova, whose evidence exposed the systematic doping in Russia and led to its ban from competition, was the first athlete cleared to compete at Rio.

The IAAF said “Darya Klishina’s participation as a neutral athlete in international competition is still subject to acceptance by the organiser of the competition in question” in the case of the Rio Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, “in accordance with the rules of that competition”.

“As soon as the formalities for Ms Klishina’s eligibility under IAAF rules are confirmed, the IAAF will be writing to notify international events organisers of her eligibility.”

The IAAF said its doping review board had received 136 applications from Russian athletes seeking to be allowed to compete in Rio as neutrals, “namely on the basis that they are not tainted by RUSAF’s [The Russian Athletics Federation] failure to put in place adequate anti-doping systems because they have been subject to other, fully adequate systems outside of the country for a sufficiently long period to provide a substantial assurance of integrity”.

Russia has taken the fight against its ban from the Olympics to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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