Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia’s most famous track and field athlete and a two-time Olympic pole vault champion, pleaded her case to be allowed to compete in Rio in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday.
“There have been suggestions that I compete under the I.O.C. flag,” Isinbayeva wrote. “But this doesn’t seem like a real possibility. If I compete, it will be as a Russian. If the entire Russian team is suspended, I will be suspended, too.”
Russian track and field athletes have been indefinitely barred from competing internationally by the IAAF since November due to the country’s poor anti-doping record.