A total of 118 Russian athletes have been confirmed banned from competing at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Thursday night, just over 24 hours away from the Opening Ceremony that more than two-thirds of the Russian team originally selected will be allowed compete in Brazil.
Russia's 271-strong team will still be one of the biggest at the Games, with only hosts Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States sending larger teams.
IOC Review Panel decides on the participation of Russian athletes at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 https://t.co/E5CpComdHe
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 4, 2016
Last month, the IOC refused to ban the Russian team as a whole, and allowed each individual sporting body to make their own decisions about whether to allow Russian athletes compete. While the athletics team will be notably absent, all eight Russian weightlifters have also been banned.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zhukov, Russia's Olympic Committee President has said that Russia will have "the cleanest team" in Brazil.
"The Russian team may have experienced the toughest checks of the Olympics, because they had to go through multiple tests and checked", he added.
Sergey Tetyukhin, who will be competing in his fifth Olympics will be Russia's flag-bearer in the Opening Ceremony. The volleyball player was part of the Russian team that won gold in London four years ago.
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