Olympic Panel Declines Total Ban on Russian Athletes for 2016

MOSCOW -- The International Olympic Committee has voted not to impose a blanket ban on Russia's participating in this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro over the country's state-directed doping of athletes.

In a statement released today, the IOC declined to impose a total collective ban as recommended earlier by the World Anti-Doping Agency, instead requesting that the international federation for each Olympic sport should evaluate which Russian athletes can be considered clean enough to compete.

Those athletes from Russia's national Olympic team wishing to compete will now have to pass examination by the international federation of their sport, meeting criteria set by the federations that will prove they are clean.

That decision means that it is likely that at least some of Russia's 387 athletes from its national Olympic team will compete in Rio though there remain steep practical challenges to their passing individual evaluations, with the games just two week away.

Speaking in a conference call to reporters, IOC president Thomas Bach said the decision had been unanimous, with one abstention. He said the decisive factor had ultimately been the fate of athletes who would have been punished by a blanket ban despite having clean records.

"At the end of the day you have to be able to look into the eyes of the individual athlete concerned by your decision," Bach said.

"The message is very clear-- given these serious allegations, given all the information they have to assume a collective responsibility for such a system. On the other hand, it is a message of encouragement for the clean Russian athletes, that they have the chance to show they are clean and to participate in the Olympic games."

A number of international federations, including the International Gymnastics Federation, have already said they oppose a blanket ban, suggesting that they will welcome the IOC decision.

The decision resembled the conditions imposed by the IOC on Russia's track and field athletes, who were barred totally from the Olympics by their international federation, the International Association of Athletics Federations in June. The IOC then decided that those athletes able to meet criteria imposed by international federation would be allowed to compete.

The federation set extremely tough criteria, with only one Russian athlete so far successfully passing meeting it -- long jumper Daria Klishina, who trains in the United States. Today's IOC ruling appeared to leave the ban on Russian track and field athletes' unaffected.