Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Russia track and field believes suspension may end soon

Russia Track and Field

BEIJING, CHINA - AUGUST 28: Sergey Shubenkov of Russia celebrates after crossing the finish line to win gold in the Men’s 110 metres hurdles final during day seven of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 28, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

Getty Images

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian track and field federation says it could be reinstated soon after nearly two years of international suspension.

The federation was banned from all international competition in November 2015 amid investigations into widespread doping, though some Russians have since been allowed to compete as neutral athletes.

Ahead of a meeting next week with the IAAF’s taskforce monitoring Russian reforms, federation president Dmitry Shlyakhtin says in a statement that he and his staff “understand each step’s significance, we’re working, doing everything possible. And when the collective works at maximum effort, I am sure that victory is not far off.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency is expected to discuss reinstating Russia’s drug-testing agency next month, potentially fulfilling a key condition of the track federation’s rehabilitation.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

MORE: Putin: U.S. pushing for Russia’s Olympic exclusion