Russian Track And Field Athletes Say Olympic Suspension Is 'Completely Unfair'

The "biggest names in Russian track and field," including pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, have denounced as "completely unfair" the decision by the IAAF to provisionally suspend Russia, according to the AFP. The three-time Olympic Medalist said, "Why do people like me have to suffer from the mistakes of irresponsible athletes?" The IAAF handed the Russian athletics federation a provisional suspension, "sparking indignation among the country's brightest track and field stars." Isinbayeva's coach Yevgeny Trofimov told Russian press that the Olympian "could ponder competing as an independent athlete under the Olympic flag," a prospect IOC President Thomas Bach dismissed as "speculation." World champion hurdler Sergei Shubenkov -- the 25-year-old son of prominent Soviet heptathlete Natalya Shubenkova -- "deplored he could relive" his mother's exclusion of the 1984 L.A. Games, which the Soviet Union boycotted. Two-time European Champion Shubenkov said, "What have I done?" (AFP, 11/17).