Russia's one-woman team misses out on Olympic medal
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Darya Klishina's one-woman show at the Olympics is over.
The only Russian allowed to participate in track and field at the Rio de Janeiro Games finished ninth in the long jump on Wednesday, leaving her country without an Olympic medal in the sport for the first time since it started competing independently in 1996 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Klishina's best jump of 6.63 meters was six centimeters short of putting her in the last stage of the competition with the top eight finishers.
"I can't say I'm happy with my result, but I'm trying to stay positive," said Klishina, a former European indoor champion. "The last week and a half before the competition was a total disaster and I think I didn't quite have enough today."
Although Russia was suspended by the sport's governing body amid investigations into state-sanctioned doping, the 25-year-old Klishina was given an exemption because she has been based in the United States and has undergone drug testing there. But the IAAF tried to backtrack because they said there were signs of interference with three samples Klishina gave in Russia in 2013 and 2014.
Klishina appealed her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and won. She was reinstated early Monday, the day before preliminaries in her event.
"I was worried. I tried to understand what the IAAF was trying to charge me with," Klishina said. "Our arguments were stronger. We won the case, so I don't have anything to do with it."
Russians won 17 medals in track and field at the 2012 Olympics, but two of those have already been stripped because of doping.
Unlike Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, who was widely booed at the pool last week over her previous doping ban, Klishina received a polite reception from the crowd at the Olympic Stadium, with some cheers when she was introduced.
Some Russians were angered by Klishina's decision to compete while the rest of Russia's track team was banned, with social media users comparing her to World War II-era collaborators. But she received support from many of her teammates.
Tatyana Lebedeva, the 2004 Olympic long jump champion and now a senator in Russia, was in the crowd Wednesday after urging Klishina in a video address: "Don't fear anyone. Tear them all apart."
In the end, though, Klishina didn't improve on the 6.64 meters she jumped to qualify for the final on Tuesday.
Americans ended up with gold and silver, with Tianna Bartoletta winning with a personal best leap of 7.17 and 2012 Olympic champion Brittney Reese finishing second at 7.15. Ivana Spanovic of Serbia won bronze.
"We can't control the IAAF or the doping things. We just have to focus on ourselves," Reese said. "We all know Darya's a great competitor and in my opinion she deserves to be here."