The battle of numbers continues in Russia. Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Sports Minister, announced over the past weekend that he hoped to see at least 60 athletes from his country admitted as individuals to participate in the Rio 2016 Games. Alexandra Brilliantova, the head of the legal department of the Russian Athletics Federation (ROC), is clearly less optimistic. She admitted to national media that, according to her analysis, only two athletes could meet the IAAF criteria and be admitted to the Games despite the suspension of Russian athletics. She did not name names, but the media did so for her. The two chosen ones could be long jumper Darya Klishina, who has been training for several seasons in Florida, and pole vaulter Alyona Lyutkovskaya, based for a large part of the year in Italy.
— Published July 5, 2016
