LONDON (SW): Russian swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev have become the first athletes from the country to appeal against their Olympics ban.
The pair filed requests with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have their bans declared "invalid and unenforceable", the BBC reported. Both swimmers were named in the McLaren Report which revealed state-sponsored doping in Russia.
A three-strong International Olympic Committee (IOC) panel will have the final say on Russian competitors' eligibility for this summer's Rio Games. The IOC's executive board met this weekend to assess final preparations in the host city and also rule on the process for approving Russian athletes put forward by their sports' international federations (IFs).
On Monday, swimming's world governing body FINA banned both, along with their Russian compatriot Daria Ustinova, because their names appeared in Canadian law professor Richard McLaren's damning report. Four more swimmers were withdrawn from the team by the Russian Olympic Committee as they had previously served doping bans.
Morozov, 24, is a freestyle and backstroke specialist who has spent several years living in the United States, training and competing for the University of South Carolina. Lobintsev is a 27-year-old freestyle swimmer who has acknowledged using the medication meldonium, which is often used to treat heart issues, but only before it was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list at the start of this year.
A total of 225 Russians have so far been approved to compete in Rio, with 47 across boxing, golf, gymnastics, handball and taekwondo still waiting to hear from their respective federations
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