RUSSIAN athletes pleaded Wednesday to be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, making their case two days before the IAAF decides whether to lift its ban on the country’s track and field team.

    The Russian Olympic Committee athletes’ commission sent a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach asking for “your support in upholding” the right of clean athletes to take part in the Games. “We ask you and the IOC to take a humanitarian attitude to the many athletes whose fate is at stake,” the letter said.

    Russia was suspended from international track and field by the IAAF in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency report alleged widespread, state-sponsored doping. The IAAF council meets Friday in Vienna to decide whether to maintain the ban.

    The IOC has scheduled a summit of sports leaders next Tuesday to consider Russia’s eligibility.

    (SD-Agencies)