Russia hopes suspended swimmers will attend Tokyo Olympics

Russia hopes to resolve all issues with swimmers suspended for anti-doping violations before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.

Alexandr Kudashev and Veronika Popova Andrusenko were suspended based on evidence supplied by the World Anti-Doping Agency, according to FINA. It said the evidence came from WADA's examination of materials recovered from the former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, including the lab's management information system.

Kudashev and Andrusenko were set to compete for the non-federation Russians. The Russian federation is barred from competing as a country in Tokyo because of ongoing doping issues found by WADA.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said the important thing is to have "direct and constructive communication" with FINA hoping the swimmers will be able to compete in Tokyo.

Andrusenko competed for Russia in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in several events. The 30-year-old swimmer also competed in the International Swimming League in 2019.

Kudashev would have been competing in his first Olympics. The 25-year-old swimmer was a gold medallist at the 2019 World University Games.