IAAF allows another 21 Russian Athletes to compete as neutrals

The International Association of Athletics Federation has approved another 21 Russian athletes to compete under a neutral status.

The approvals have been granted since WADA started analysing data from the Moscow laboratory last month. Some of the athletes are returning to competition for the first time since Russia’s team was banned in 2015 over the widespread doping scandal.

In order to gain neutral status, Russian athletes have had to prove they are clean by providing information about their drug-testing history to an IAAF panel.

There are now a total of 64 Russian athletes with neutral status for 2019, and the review process ongoing. The latest approvals however, have come a little too late for some of the athletes hoping to compete at the European Indoor Championships early March.