The IAAF rejected bids from 28 Russians to compete as neutral athletes Wednesday and approved only three. Russia was banned from all international track and field competition in 2015 amid allegations of widespread Doping and a cover-up orchestrated by government officials. Former European javelin champion Vera Rebrik, who competed for Ukraine until 2014, was approved to compete Wednesday along with 400-meter runner Ksenia Aksyonova and hurdler Vera Rudakova. A total of 15 Russians have now been cleared to compete internationally as neutrals, while the IAAF has rejected 45 others. "I'm grateful to the members of the Doping Review Board for the dedication and diligence they are giving to this on-going review process," IAAF President Sebastian Coe said in a statement. "The importance of this huge task should not be underestimated. There can be no time constraints or deadlines when the protection of clean athletes everywhere is at stake." Those already approved include high jump world champion Maria Lasitskene, 110-meter hurdles world champion Sergei Shubenkov and Doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova, an 800-meter runner. The Russian track federation published a list of the 28 athletes who were rejected Wednesday. It didn't include any big names, but there were some promising younger competitors such as Konstantin Kholmogorov, who ran the fastest 800-meter indoor time in Russia this year, according to IAAF records. No reasons were given for the rejections by either the IAAF or the Russian federation. Another 27 cases remain under review with decisions expected soon, the IAAF said. There was no update on more than 40 other applications out of the "more than 130" which the IAAF says it has received. 6 track athletes banned after Olympic retests Six Russian and Ukrainian track athletes have been handed Doping bans after retests found they had doped at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. The IAAF says Russian sprinter Yulia Chermoshanskaya, who won 4x100-meter relay gold in 2008, was banned for two years. Two Ukrainians, javelin silver medalist Oleksandr Pyatnytsya and pole vault bronze medalist Denys Yurchenko, were also banned for two years. They had already been stripped of their Olympic medals last year by the International Olympic Committee. There were also two-year bans for Ukrainian athletes Vita Palamar, Marharyta Tverdohlib and Maksym Mazuryk, who were not medalists. The IAAF also announced an eight-year sanction for Natalia Lupu, who was the 800-meter European indoor champion in 2013. The IAAF says the Ukrainian failed a test in July, her second offense. — Agencies
