MOSCOW (AP) " Two Russian athletes have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the IAAF's ban on the Russian team competing in Olympic track and field. The appeal does not have the blessing of the Russian track and field federation, which says it has yet to receive the full text of the IAAF's decision. The IAAF, track and field's world governing body, on Friday upheld a suspension of the Russian team imposed in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread, state-sponsored doping. Both athletes say they reject an IAAF measure that would allow some Russian athletes to compete under a neutral status, rather than the Russian flag, if they can show they are clean and have been tested regularly by a reputable testing authority outside Russia. Race-walkers Denis Nizhegorodov and Svetlana Vasilyeva argue that a ban of the entire team is unfair punishment.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 19, 2016 11:26 UTC