Olympic chiefs open anti-doping summit in wake of Russia ban


              Russia's pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva competes at the National track and field championships at a stadium in Cheboksary, Russia, Monday, June 20, 2016. The Russian national track and field championships were supposed to offer a chance to secure Olympic places, but with Russia's athletes now banned from the Rio games, excitement for competition has been replaced by despair and defiance. (AP Photo/Nikolai Alexandrov)
Russia's pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva competes at the National track and field championships at a stadium in Cheboksary, Russia, Monday, June 20, 2016. The Russian national track and field championships were supposed to offer a chance to secure Olympic places, but with Russia's athletes now banned from the Rio games, excitement for competition has been replaced by despair and defiance. (AP Photo/Nikolai Alexandrov)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - Olympic leaders are meeting to consider further steps to crack down on doping ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in the wake of the ban on Russian track and field athletes.

IOC President Thomas Bach convened a special Olympic summit on Tuesday to take stock of the IAAF's decision to maintain its ban on Russia for the games and to take additional measures to ensure a "level playing field" for all athletes in Rio.

At the opening of the meeting of 20 sports delegates at a Lausanne hotel, Bach said: "We want to coordinate our efforts to protect the clean athletes and strengthen the fight against doping, particularly in light of the upcoming Rio Games."

Bach added: "We will have some interesting debate."

IAAF President Sebastian Coe was among those attending, as was Russia's Olympic committee chief Alexander Zhukov.

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