IAAF okays Russia’s Ekaterina Starygina to compete as neutral athlete

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The  International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) Doping Review Board agreed that the application of Russian javelin thrower Ekaterina Starygina has met the exceptional eligibility criteria to compete as a neutral athlete at the 2019 European Games under competition Rule 22.1A(b) while the Russian national federation (RusAF) remains suspended.

The application process for athletes seeking neutral status in international competitions in 2019 opened in December 2018. According to IAAF, a  total of 67 Russian athletes have so far been declared eligible to compete as authorised neutral athletes in 2019.

The Doping Review Board has received 214 applications in 2019. 15 applications have so far been rejected. One was revoked.The participation of all these athletes as neutral athletes in international competition is still subject to formalities for eligibility under IAAF Rules being completed and subject to acceptance of their entries by individual meeting organisers.

“As this is an ongoing process, the IAAF will only make announcements as and when decisions are made by the Doping Review Board concerning successful applications and those athletes have been informed. The Doping Review Board is composed of Robert Hersh (chair), Sylvia Barlag and Antti Pihlakoski”, the IAAF said.

2019 authorised neutral athletes

28 March 2019: Elizaveta Kamenets (heptathlon), Alexander Komarov (decathlon), Rail Kutuev (long jump), Liliia Mendaeva (1500/3000m) – European U20 Championships only, Aleksey Shevchuk (race walk)

21 February 2019: Nikita Andriyanov (high jump), Alena Beliakova (discus), Anastasiya Borodulina (hammer), Kirill Chernkhin (sprints), Yana Glotova (400m), Irina Gumeniuk (triple jump), Adelina Khalikova (high jump), and Valeriya Khramova/Andreeva (400m).

Others are Aleksey Khudyakov (discus), Yevgeniy Korotovskii (hammer), Evgeniy Kunts (1500m), Dmitriy Lopin (sprints), Artem Makarenko (combined events), Mariia Pavlova (combined events), Sergey Polianski (long jump), Natalya Pospelova (hammer), Aleksey Sokirskii (hammer), Elena Sokolova (long jump), Polina Sokolova (discus), Irina Takuntcheva (400m)

21 January 2019: Diana Adasko (triple jump), Maxim Afonin (shot put), Dzhennifer Akiniimika (sprints), Mariia Aglitckaia (100m hurdles), Rinas Akhmadeev (long distance), Elizaveta Bondarenko (pole vault), Oleg Braiko (jumps), Viktor Butenko (discus), Timofey Chalyy (400m hurdles), Danila Danilov (hammer), Alexey Fedorov (triple jump) and Aksana Gatauillina (pole vault).

Others are Georgiy Gorokhov (pole vault), Illia Ivaniuk (high jump), Maria Kochanova (high jump), Viacheslav Kolesnichenko (sprints), Alexander Komarov (combined events) – European U20 Championships only, Vilena Komarova (combined events), Elena Kulichenko (high jump), Anna Krylova (triple jump), Maria Lasitskene (high jump), Aleksandr Lesnoi (shot put), Denis Lukyanov (hammer), Alena Lutkovskaia (pole vault), Alena Mamina (sprints), Polina Miller (sprints), Vasiliy Mizinov (race walks) and Timur Morgunov (pole vault).

The remaining athletes are Ilia Mudrov (pole vault), Olga Mullina (pole vault), Egor Nikolaev (1500m), Sofia Palkina (hammer), Viktoriia Prokopenko (triple jump), Vera Rudakova (400m hurdles), Fedor Shutov (long distance), Illia Skkurenev (combined events), Anastasiia Shkurutova (hammer), Sergey Shubenkov (110m hurdles), Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault), Olesia Soldatova (400m), Yana Smerdova (race walks), Elizaveta Tsareva (hammer)