CHEBOKSARY, Russia (AP) — Russia's national track and field championships were supposed to offer a chance to secure Olympic places, but with its athletes now banned from the Rio Games, excitement for competition has been replaced by despair and defiance.
For Natalya Antyukh, the reigning Olympic champion in the 400-meter hurdles, Rio would almost certainly be her last chance for a medal at the age of 34.
"The mood has been spoiled," Antyukh told The Associated Press on Sunday, adding that she had kept the Olympics as an "imaginary goal" for herself in the seven months that separated Russia's suspension in November from the IAAF vote Friday that upheld the Olympic ban.