IAAF clears 3 Russians to compete at European indoor championships
Anzhelika Sidorova, Kristina Sivkova, and Alexei Sokirsky to compete as neutral athletes
Track and field authorities have cleared three Russian athletes in time to compete next month at European indoor track championships and another high-profile event.
The International Association of Athletics Federations established new criteria requiring Russian athletes to show they had been subject to compliant anti-doping systems while the Russian track federation is suspended for widespread doping.
The three athletes cleared to compete as neutral athletes Thursday are pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova, the 2015 European indoor champion, sprinter Kristina Sivkova and hammer thrower Alexei Sokirsky, who will compete at the European Throwing Cup.
Thursday was the entry deadline for the European championships, which are scheduled for March 3-5 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Long jumper Darya Klishina and sprinter Yulia Stepanova had previously been declared eligible and will remain so, the IAAF said.
Klishina was the only Russian track and field athlete to compete at last year's Olympics.
Stepanova is the whistleblower who was cleared by IAAF but denied entry into the Olympics by the IOC.
The IAAF said another six applications were declined. The IAAF said it received 48 total applications, 28 of which were endorsed by Russia's national federation. It said a number of the applications remain under review.
Not on the list was 2015 world high jump champion Maria Kuchina, who earlier in the week said she was ready to go but still waiting on the IAAF decision.
IAAF president Sebastian Coe said, "While prioritizing applications based upon the entry deadlines of the competitions concerned, the primary responsibility of the Doping Review Board must always be to safeguard the integrity of competition."
The IAAF has previously said Russia's track federation would not be reinstated until at least November, which would leave the country's athletes forced to comply with the same terms to enter this year's world championships as neutral competitors. Worlds are set for August in London.