Russians rally around the cause over Olympic doping bans

A world away from the Rio Games, the Non-Olympics was held in a Moscow park on Sunday to defiantly celebrate Russia's sporting identity as it battles doping scandals.

Lining up to run the 400 metres, relays and hurdles, Muscovites competed for the title of "Non-Olympic" champion.

Sixty-seven track and field athletes were among 111 Russians banned from Rio over a report for the World Anti-Doping Agency that said the Russian government organised the use of banned substances.

That has stung the Russian public even though the absence of the likes of double Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has not dimmed excitement for the Games.

Russia's escape from a blanket ban by the IOC, which has allowed 278 Russians to compete, has been met with relief. Many have interpreted it as a Russian victory.

"These Olympics are no longer a celebration of sport but some kind of political contest," Yelena Veshtart, an economist at the Central Bank of Russia and amateur runner, told AFP.

"Some athletes will have that anger that they need to prove to everyone that they are not letting us compete for nothing."

Russian officials deny any state involvement in doping cover-ups and dismissed the McLaren report accusations that the sports ministry had help from the Russian secret service to manipulate samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Surveys show that a majority of Russians side with the government and state media on the issue.

A poll conducted last month by the independent Levada Centre found that 71 percent of Russians doubt authorities were involved in doping cover-ups.

- In limbo -

To match their anger at the ban on athletes, Russians have rallied around the national flag ? backing President Vladimir Putin's narrative on how Russia prevails over Western attempts to weaken the country.

"With the Russian spirit, nothing will break them (Russian athletes)," former Olympic runner and doping offender Anastasia Kapachinskaya told AFP. She said the "Non-Olympics" were to show support for the banned track and field stars.

Russians in Rio "will keep winning medals so that our national anthem (plays) and our flag is raised at the Olympic stadium".

Putin said last month that the absence of Russian competitors diminish the Rio spectacle and the value of medals won there.

But the country also seems worried that the legal battles of recent weeks has affected the athletes who are in Rio.

When swimmer Natalia Lovtsova finished last in her women's 100m butterfly heat on Saturday, a commentator on Russia's Match TV said he hoped the disappointing result was not the consequence of the "past three weeks" that saw her "stupidly banned" by FINA then reinstated on the eve of her competition.

"Fans will be supporting them in any case, but we can't expect much from the athletes," 30-year-old running enthusiast Andrei Zhuravlyov said.

"The state of mind was negative from the start, it was demoralising."

- 'Seek revenge' -

R-Sport news agency has predicted that Russia is contending for 68 medals, including 18 gold. For the 2012 London Games, Russia sent 436 athletes and won 82 medals, 24 of them gold. Some have since been taken away because of doping, however.

Judoka Beslan Mudranov claimed Russia's first medal in Rio, winning gold in the men's 60kg tournament on Saturday.

Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said Mudranov's medal was as "answer to all our ill-wishers", TASS news agency reported.

In an interview with Sport Express newspaper, swimmer Vladimir Morozov, whose ban from Rio over a past doping offence was overturned just before the Games, called on Russian athletes to "seek revenge" through their performances.