The International Olympic Committee (IOC) prolonged invites on Thursday to eight prime Russian tennis gamers, in addition to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka, to take part as impartial athletes on the Paris Olympics.
However, some have already declined the anticipated supply.
Among the Russian males invited to compete at Roland Garros from July 27 to Aug. 4 are Daniil Medvedev (ranked No. 5), Andrey Rublev (No. 6), Karen Khachanov, and Roman Safiullin.
The Russian ladies – Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova, Ekaterina Aleksandrova, and Mirra Andreeva – are at present ranked from No. 14 to 24, respectively.
Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, has already introduced she is going to skip the Olympics to keep away from switching from Wimbledon on grass again to clay on the Olympics, then to exhausting courts in August forward of the U.S. Open. Rublev has reportedly cited well being causes for not attending.
Tennis is the newest Olympic sport to substantiate invites to Paris as a part of a vetting course of permitting some athletes from Russia and its navy ally Belarus to compete with impartial standing in particular person sports activities throughout the invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee is overseeing vetting to dam athletes who expressed help for the Russian invasion or had ties to sports activities golf equipment linked to the navy or state safety companies.
Russia and Belarus are already excluded from crew sports activities on the Paris Games opening on July 26.
Earlier this month, the IOC introduced {that a} first spherical of 14 Russians and 11 Belarusians have been eligible and invited to Paris, together with in biking, weightlifting, and wrestling. Some invites have been declined.
On Thursday, two athletes in rowing and two in capturing from Belarus have been invited to compete in Paris, although none in fashionable pentathlon. Russia didn’t have entry quota locations in these three sports activities.
It continues to be unclear what number of Russian athletes will compete on the Olympics. The IOC has already barred those that do from collaborating within the opening ceremony parade of athletes scheduled on boats crusing alongside the River Seine.
Source: www.dailysabah.com