(ATR) The International Paralympic Committee has approved 30 Russians to compete as neutral athletes at the PyeongChang Games.
The IPC banned Russia from the Paralympics in January in the wake of the state-directed doping scandal that tainted the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics. But the group of Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPAs) is allowed to take part following a rigorous selection process.
The delegation features 10 athletes who will compete in alpine skiing, 12 in Nordic skiing and three in snowboard. Another five will participate in the wheelchair curling competition. Six Russian guides will support athletes with a vision impairment. The Russian delegation includes a further 39 support personnel and team officials.
The IPC said all 30 athletes met the qualification criteria for the Games and fulfil the strict eligibility conditions for Russians to compete as neutrals made public by the IPC on Jan. 29.
It means that all athletes cleared to take part at the PyeongChang Paralympics are part of a registered testing pool and have undergone at least two anti-doping tests in the last six months. They have also participated in a Russian Paralympic Committee anti-doping education session.
Under the IPC’s Winter Paralympics qualification process, only unused athlete quotas have been redistributed to eligible Neutral Paralympic Athletes.
With all 100 quota places in men’s Nordic skiing already allocated, Russian NPAs will not feature in the competition. There are no NPAs in the Para ice hockey because Russia had already missed the opportunity to qualify.
The IPC said it is still considering entry applications from a small number of other Russian athletes who wish to compete at PyeongChang 2018.
The IPC won’t lift its suspension on Russia until the country’s Paralympic committee meets the reinstatement criteria detailed in January.
Sixty-nine athletes represented Russia at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics.
The PyeongChang Paralympics run from March 9-18.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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