Moscow: Russian athletes yesterday reacted with a mixture of anger and despair after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dashed their dreams of competing at the Rio Olympics by rejecting an appeal against a ban for doping.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jul/sad3.jpg" alt="" /> Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbaeva during the IAAF Golden League Golden event at Rome in 2009. PIC/GETTY IMAGES
High jumper Maria Kuchina &mdash; a medal hopeful for the Games &mdash; was competing at an event near Moscow that she hoped would be a warm-up for Brazil when the news she had been dreading came through. &ldquo;My first reaction was: It&rsquo;s just not true! How can it be? The world&rsquo;s going crazy,&rdquo; 23-year-old Kuchina told journalists. &ldquo;It was supposed to be my first Games and it is a serious blow to me - both as an athlete and as a person.&rdquo;
Other sports stars lashed out furiously against the ruling that Moscow has often portrayed as part of a broader campaign against Russia. Two-time Olympic pole vault gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva, who had been hoping to end her stellar career with victory at her fifth Olympics, said the ruling would deal a mortal blow to international athletics. &ldquo;Thank you all for this funeral for athletics,&rdquo; Isinbayeva, 34, told TASS.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jul/High-jumper-Kuchina.jpg" alt="" /> High jumper Kuchina
Angry Instagram post Later she wrote angrily on Instagram: &ldquo;Let all those &lsquo;clean&rsquo; foreign athletes breathe a sigh of relief and win their pseudo-gold medals in our absence. Strength has always been feared.&rdquo; World champion hurdler Sergey Shubenkov, 25, also posted a picture of himself holding his head and looking glum after the ruling. &ldquo;What a shame. Well done, congrats, enjoy &ldquo;clean&rdquo; sport,&rdquo; he wrote on Instagram. On the other hand, Russia&rsquo;s top hammer thrower Sergey Litvinov, known for his strong anti-doping stance, said he felt a sense of relief at the decision, even though it prevents him competing. &ldquo;I felt a kind of a relief after the CAS verdict was announced. Finally there was some kind of clarity,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old athlete, calling for Russia to &ldquo;acknowledge its mistakes.&rdquo;

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Two-time Olympic pole vault gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva livid after Court of Arbitration dashes dope-tainted Russia&rsquo;s Rio Olympics hopes

Yelena Isinbayeva on Russia's Rio 2016 ban: Funeral for athletics

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Home / Sports / Other Sports / Article / Yelena Isinbayeva on Russia's Rio 2016 ban: Funeral for athletics

Yelena Isinbayeva on Russia's Rio 2016 ban: Funeral for athletics

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