IAAF to rule this week on Russian Olympic hopefuls as deadline nears

The IAAF will rule this week on whether a group of Russian athletes can compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as individuals.

Russia was banned from international track and field over widespread doping in November and the ban was upheld earlier this month.

The IAAF can allow individual Russians to compete as “neutral athletes” if they can show they have been regularly tested by a reliable agency.

The IAAF’s Doping Review Board will meet “by the end of this week” to rule on the applications it has already received. The deadline to apply is July 4.

While the IAAF refused to say how many Russians had applied, Russian officials have said around 10 applications have already been sent and as many as 67 athletes could apply.