MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Russia has won the right to participate in the sport climbing competition during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics fairly, and the sport's debut in the Olympics cannot take place without Russia's athletes, Dmitry Bychkov, the president of the Russian Climbing Federation told Sputnik on Tuesday, following the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) decision to temporarily ban Russia from participating in major sporting events.
On Monday, WADA's Executive Committee unanimously adopted the recommendations of the organization's Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to suspend Russian athletes from participating in international sporting events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, for four years. Only "clean" athletes from Russia will be allowed to compete under neutral status � without the flag or national anthem. In addition, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was recognized as non-compliant with the global anti-doping code.
"When the CRC's harsh recommendations against Russia were voiced for the first time, our athletes were not rightful participants of the upcoming Olympics. Now we are not candidates, but holders of an Olympic quota. It was won legitimately. We have a quota holder, who has proved over the years of competing that he is absolutely 'pure,' which means justice must win in the end, we must see him in August of 2020, in Tokyo," Bychkov said.
He added that everyone will know Russian athletes even if they are not participating under the national flag.
"Even if he has to compete without the [Russian] flag, we all know that he is our athlete... The representatives of other countries understand it as well ... It is, of course, unpleasant for us to start our Olympic history under such circumstances, but we are confident that the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian sports Ministry will do their best so that our country's athletes can go to Tokyo," Bychkov added.
Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would use existing mechanisms to defend the right of its athletes to participate in international sporting events.
