Russia banned from Paralympic Games:
Five Georgian athletes, not two, will now compete in Rio
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Five Georgian athletes will represent the country at next month’s Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after three spaces emerged following the blanket ban of Russia’s entire Paralympic team due to doping.
Today it was revealed three more Georgian athletes had qualified for the September 7-18 sporting competition. Their inclusion means Georgia will have five athletes competing in the Paralympic Games.
The five Georgian athletes representing Georgia’s Paralympic team are:
- Zviad Gogochuri, Judo;
- Lika Chachibaia, Swimming;
- Irma Khetsuriani, Fencing;
- Akaki Jincharadze, Powerlifting; and
- Vano Tsiklauri, Archery
Gogochuri and Chachibaia were Georgia’s initial Paralympic athletes however Khetsuriani, Jincharadze and Tsiklauri will now join them following the complete ban of Russia’s Paralympic team.
Russia intended to send 267 competitors across 18 sports to compete in the Paralympic competition however the country’s participation in the Games was revoked due to widespread state-sponsored doping.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released a report by Professor Richard H. McLaren prior to this month’s Olympic Games, which said Russia operated a state-sponsored doping program for four years across the vast majority of summer and winter Olympic sports.
The report stated the doping-program was in action from late 2011 – including the build-up to the London Olympic Games in 2012 – and continued through the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics until August 2015.
Russia’s Olympic team was not banned from participating in this month’s Olympic Games, and because of this the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was heavily criticized by many around the globe.
More than 270 Russian athletes participated in the Olympic Games, which took place on August 5-25. Over the two weeks of competition Russian athletes won 56 winning medals and gained fourth place overall on the Olympic medal table.
Last Tuesday the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) decision to ban all Russian competitors, which led to the banning of Russia’s Paralympic Team at this year’s competition.
Banning of Russia’s Paralympic team meant other countries could potentially send more athletes to the upcoming sporting competition.
Meanwhile 176 nations with 4,500 athletes are set to participate in the Rio Paralympic Games next month.