IOC Approves Entire List of Russian Snowboarders Announced for Olympics

Leading snowboarders Wild, Zavarzina and Sobolev among other members of the team got on the list presented by Russia to the International Olympic Committee for the participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Sputnik

All Russian snowboarders were admitted to the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, said the president of the Federation of Snowboarding of Russia Denis Tikhomirov.

READ MORE: IOC Limits 2018 Winter Olympics Invitation for Russian Athletes

Snowboarding Federation chief noted that the team was nervous due to the situation with the admission of Russians to the Olympics, as on Tuesday, First Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov said that a number of leaders of the Russian national team are not included in the list of potential participants of the Olympics.

"There were a lot of different rumors, but in the end the team that we drafted has been approved," Tikhomirov added.

The final composition of athletes for the Olympic Games is formed on the basis of the rating of the International Ski Federation (FIS), but the coaches can change the composition in accordance with the approved selection criteria. The FSR will announce the final team for the Olympics after January 28.

IOC Limits 2018 Winter Olympics Invitation for Russian Athletes
Meanwhile, five Russian ice hockey players have not received invitations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"As of today, the following candidates for the national team have not received invitations from the IOC: Anton Belov, Alexey Bereglazov, Mikhail Naumenkov, Valery Nichushkin and Sergey Plotnikov," the RIHF said.

"The IOC particularly stressed that these ice hockey players are not guilty of violating the anti-doping regulations. For the invitation to the Games, the IOC commission assessed a large number of various factors. At present, the RIHF is requesting from the IOC information on the reasons for refusal to invite these athletes," it said.

Russian athletes will not be able to compete at the 2018 Olympic Games under the Russian flag due to the suspension of the Russian National Olympic Committee's membership in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for anti-doping rules violations at the 2014 Sochi Games. However, the IOC Executive Board made a decision to allow so-called clean athletes to compete in the 2018 Games under the Olympic flag and with the inscription "Olympic athlete from Russia" on the uniform.

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