IAAF clears more Russians to compete as neutral athletes

Published Mar. 28, 2019 11:14 a.m. ET

MONACO (AP) — The IAAF has cleared four more Russians to compete as neutral athletes in international track and field events.

They include Russian national junior indoor 3,000-meter champion Lilia Mendaeva, race walker Alexei Shevchuk, heptathlete Elizaveta Kamenets and long jumper Rail Kutuev.

European under-18 decathlon champion Alexander Komarov has had his status upgraded, allowing him to compete in more events.

That takes the number of Russians with neutral status this season to 69. The Russian track federation says there have been 15 refusals this year and 162 applications have yet to be processed.

Russian officials say 73 Russians had the status at some stage last season.