The suspended Russian track federation is sending a team of 29 competitors to the world championships in Qatar, where they will compete as neutral athletes.
High jumper Mariya Lasitskene is the only reigning world champion among the group announced by the federation Tuesday. Lasitskene has jumped a world leading 2.06 meters this season but has failed to clear 2 meters at four of her last five events.
Other medal contenders include Sergei Shubenkov, the 2015 world champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and high jumpers Mikhail Akimenko and Ilya Ivanyuk.
Many Russian athletes with past doping bans were not cleared to compete, including race walker Elena Lashmanova, the world leader in the 20-kilometer event this year. Lashmanova is a former Olympic gold medalist, as is Anna Chicherova, another athlete who was not allowed to go.
With 29 Russian neutral athletes, there will be 10 more than at the last world championships two years ago. The squad includes 16 women, compared to just seven in 2017.
Russia has been suspended from international track and field since 2015 over widespread doping, but 131 athletes have since been cleared to compete as neutrals. They must present evidence of thorough drug testing to a panel set up by track's world governing body, the IAAF.
Athletes from the neutral team do not wear national colors and if one wins a gold medal, the IAAF anthem is played.
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EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — United States international Ricardo Pepi was to be operated on after breaking his right arm during a game with PSV Eindhoven and is expected to be out for two months.
The recovery timeline should give Pepi enough time to regain his form and secure a place on the U.S. team for a home World Cup.
The 23-year-old Pepi was injured when he tumbled after scoring during the first half of a 5-1 win over Excelsior in the Dutch league on Saturday.
“It didn’t look good right away and at such a moment you would prefer to look the other way,” PSV coach Peter Bosz said. “Last January Ricardo was already out due to his knee injury. It won’t last that long now, but unfortunately we lost him again. Pepi was on a good run, had a strong training camp and was all the way back. … All signs were green for a strong second half of the season, so this is incredibly disappointing.”
Pepi has scored 13 goals and provided three assists in 34 matches for the U.S.
The U.S. faces Paraguay, Australia and another team still to be determined through qualifying playoffs in the group stage of the June 11-July 19 World Cup, which will also be co-hosted by Canada and Mexico.
Pepi was surprisingly left off the U.S. squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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FILE - PSV's Ricardo Pepi reacts after missing a scoring chance during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSV and Union SG, at the PSV stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Sept.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, file)
