LONDON (AP) – The Latest on the Russian doping report (all times local):
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10:55 a.m.
Pole vault great Yelena Isinbayeva says she will oppose blanket bans of Russian athletes after being named the head of the suspended Russian anti-doping agency’s new supervisory board.
Isinbayeva was appointed chair of the 10-person board, which also includes a senior Russian Sports Ministry official, on Wednesday without consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Isinbayeva, who missed this year’s Olympics when the Russian track and field team was banned, says “of course it’s in my interests not to allow the situation which I ended up in, so that our athletes from our country are treated the same as everyone else.”
The agency was suspended last year over cover-up allegations and requires WADA certification to start carrying out doping tests again.
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10 a.m.
The Olympic world is bracing for more evidence of systematic Russian doping.
World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren is releasing his latest report on Friday into allegations of state-sponsored cheating and cover-ups in Russia.
The report is expected to focus on evidence of a doping conspiracy centered on the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, including details of the manipulation of doping samples.
McLaren’s first report, issued in July, led WADA to call for Russia’s exclusion from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The IOC rejected the call, instead allowing international sports federations to decide which Russian athletes could compete.
McLaren’s new report will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee, which has two separate commissions looking into the allegations. The IOC has said it will impose stiff sanctions on any athletes and officials implicated in doping.