--- title: Rio 2016: 10 Russian Olympians Banned in Swimming and Rowing description: Seven Russian swimmers and three rowers have been banned from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. canonical: https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-26T06:10:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:32:24.129Z article:section: Sports og:title: Rio 2016: 10 Russian Athletes Banned in Swimming and Rowing og:description: 7 Russian swimmers and 3 rowers have been banned from the Rio Olympics og:url: https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt678c433b4495e169/69889f350a4a226f849ca9d3/gettyimages-465430739.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Views Of Sochi Ahead Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rio 2016: 10 Russian Athletes Banned in Swimming and Rowing twitter:description: 7 Russian swimmers and 3 rowers have been banned from the Rio Olympics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt678c433b4495e169/69889f350a4a226f849ca9d3/gettyimages-465430739.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 10 Russian Athletes Have Been Banned From Rio Olympics in Swimming and Rowing by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jul 26, 2016 6:10 AM CUT  The Olympic Cauldron is tested by fire crews at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Park in the Costal Cluster in Sochi, Russia on January 27, 2014 The Olympic Cauldron is tested by fire crews at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Park in the Costal Cluster in Sochi, Russia on January 27, 2014Richard Heathcote—Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jul 26, 2016 6:10 AM CUT Seven Russian swimmers and three rowers have been banned from competing in the 2016 Olympics, according to statements issued by the [International Swimming Federation](http://www.fina.org/news/pr-64-fina-statement-%E2%80%93-participation-russia-rio-2016-olympic-games "undefined") (FINA) and [World Rowing Federation](http://www.worldrowing.com/news/first-stage-fisa-executive-committee-decision-related-ioc-decision-russian-participation-rio-2016 "undefined") (FISA). The decisions by FINA and FISA follow the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision [not to impose](http://time.com/4420908/rio-olympics-ioc-russian-doping/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") a blanket ban on Russian athletes over the country’s state-sponsored [doping scandal](http://time.com/4410395/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-wada/ "undefined"). Instead, independent sports federations will be responsible for investigating their own athletes. A [World Anti-Doping Agency](http://time.com/4421019/russia-olympic-doping-report/ "undefined") (WADA) report spearheaded by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren said Russian officials [manipulated urine samples](http://time.com/4410395/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-wada/ "undefined") at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. **Read More:** [_This Is What Russia’s Doping Scandal Means for the Olympics_](http://time.com/4421019/russia-olympic-doping-report/ "undefined") The swimmers who will not be competing in Rio de Janeiro include 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yulia Efimova, Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Natalia Lovtcova and Anastasia Krapivina — all of whom have previously been hit with sanctions for banned substances, [reports](http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36887787 "undefined") the BBC. Three more athletes, Nikita Lobintsev, Vladimir Morozov and Daria Ustinova — who appeared in the WADA IP report — are also banned. The rowing governing body said Anastasia Karabelshchikova and Ivan Podshivalov won’t be competing in Rio due to their past doping infractions, and Ivan Balandin, who was implicated in the same report. Both organizations said they will continue to investigate athletes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/"},"headline":"10 Russian Athletes Have Been Banned From Rio Olympics in Swimming and Rowing","datePublished":"2016-07-26T06:10:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:32:24.129Z","description":"Both organizations said they will continue to investigate athletes.","url":"https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/","keywords":["russia","brazil","fisa","Summer Olympics","Rio 2016","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt678c433b4495e169/69889f350a4a226f849ca9d3/gettyimages-465430739.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt678c433b4495e169/69889f350a4a226f849ca9d3/gettyimages-465430739.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Views Of Sochi Ahead Olympic Games","caption":"Views Of Sochi Ahead Olympic Games","creditText":"Richard Heathcote—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4423168/rio-olympics-russian-athletes-banned-swimming-rowing/","name":"10 Russian Athletes Have Been Banned From Rio Olympics in Swimming and Rowing"}}]}] ```