Top Russian athletes said they are disappointed with the decision to uphold a ban on the Russian team competing in Olympic track and field.
Some of Russia’s elite track and field athletes worked out Sunday at a stadium about 400 miles east of Moscow.
They were getting ready for the Russian National Athletics Championships, which start Monday.
The decision by the World Governing Body of Track and Field follows a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency that detailed widespread, state-sponsored doping in Russia.
The coach for long jumper and model Darya Klishina said the Olympics ban has not impacted her training.
“Darya’s preparation has not been affected at all,” her coach Loren Seagrave said. “We don’t talk about what’s going on. We know what our program is.”
The track and field governing body said it that would allow individual Russian athletes who have been untainted by doping and have been subjected to effective testing outside Russia to apply to compete in the games.
But only a handful would be eligible to compete as “individuals” – and not under the Russian flag.
One male athlete said “no one has given up”, but a gold medal hurdler said she had lost motivation.
The Russian National Championships was to be the qualifier to decide which athletes would go to the Olympic Games in Rio.