Over 120 Russian athletes training for 2018 Paralympic Games despite risk of being barred
UN (New York). June 15 (Interfax) - Russian Paralympians are well prepared for the 2018 Paralympic Games in South Korea even though they could be denied permission to compete in them, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletes' Council member Mikhail Terentyev said.
"Their training has been going well. The Sports Ministry of the Russian Federation has taken a constructive stance on the need to financially support the athletes in the absence of international competitions because lots of issues there depend on whether an athlete participates in international tournaments or not," Terentyev told Interfax on Wednesday.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has been functioning in trial mode since the start of June, he said.
"I think that they will give more attention to testing athletes training in winter sports. As far as I know, the Paralympic Committee of Russia has named more than 120 athletes who plan to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games," he said.
If the IPC Executive Committee decides not to reinstate the Russian Paralympic Committee's membership in early September, there is a risk that such a decision will not be made until the Executive Committee's new composition takes office, Terentyev said.
"In this case, the decision will be made in about a couple of months, namely in November, but it will already be too late for our team to be cleared for the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang," he said.
The United Nations is hosting the tenth session of the conference of the signatories to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Russia's delegation, which includes Terentyev and Russian Labor and Social Protection Deputy Minister Grigory Lekarev, is attending.
The Russian Paralympic Committee's membership in the IPC was suspended in August 2016 following the publication of the McLaren report in July of that year. Russian Paralympians were barred from the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In November, the Russian Paralympic Committee received criteria for its reinstatement from the IPC. However, the IPC voted unanimously in May 2017 to extend the Russian Paralympic Committee's suspension.