five Cup playoff matches and winning three of the 10 World Series stops and only months later secured the first ever Rugby Sevens Olympic gold.Fijis meteoric rise from small island nation to World

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin hit out at discrimination against the countrys banned track and field athletes at a Kremlin send-off ceremony Wednesday for its depleted Olympic team.Fencers, triathletes and table tennis players became the latest team of Russians to be cleared to compete in the Olympics by the governing bodies of their sports ahead of the Moscow ceremony, but the IAAF rejected a bid by the bulk of the track and field team to be reinstated.More than 100 Russians from the 387-strong Olympic team have been banned so far from going to Rio de Janeiro.We cant accept indiscriminate disqualification of our athletes with an absolutely clean doping history, Putin said. We cannot and will not accept what in fact is pure discrimination.Putin said the athletes banned from the Olympics were victims of a campaign to present Russian sports in a bad light. He spoke with two-time Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva, the most high-profile of the 67 track and field athletes banned from the games, standing beside him.Fighting back tears, Isinbayeva told Rio-bound Russian athletes: Show them what youre able to do -- for yourself and for us too.As the athletes walked across Red Square to meet Putin, some posed for selfies with Vitaly Mutko, whose sports ministry was accused by the World Anti-Doping Agency of orchestrating the doping cover-up. The sports minister has been blocked by the International Olympic Committee from attending the games next month but he remains in Putins government.The IAAF is the only sport to impose a near-blanket ban on Russians, only deeming one -- long jumper Darya Klishina -- eligible for Rio.The situation went beyond the legal field as well as common sense, Putin told the audience, which included many of the banned athletes. Its a well-planned campaign which targeted our athletes, which included double-standards and the concept of collective punishment which has nothing to do with justice or even basic legal norms.Not only have our athletes who never faced any specific accusations been hurt -- this is a blow to the entire global sports and the Olympic Games. Clearly, the absence of Russian athletes who were leaders in some of the sports will affect the competition.There was positive news, however, from Putins ally, Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire who is president of the International Fencing Federation.The governing body said it would allow the 16 Russian fencers who have qualified for the Rio Games to compete and it approved four reserves. The decision came after the FIE said it had re-examined 197 tests taken from Russian fencers in 35 countries over the last two years which all came back negative.The FIE said the fencers heading to Rio were not implicated in the latest report by WADA investigator Richard McLaren, who found that four positive doping tests in Russian fencing disappeared in recent years.Four positive results in Russian triathlon were also covered up, according to McLaren. The International Triathlon Union said the three men and three women who qualified for Rio are not mentioned in the McLaren report and have not served past doping suspensions.They have all been tested outside of Russia, the ITU said in a statement. Therefore, ITU will recommend to the IOC that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month.The Table Tennis Federation also announced that the three Russians who qualified for Rio should be allowed to compete because they were not implicated in the McLaren report, which classified one doping case in their sport as a disappearing positive.Russian entries to the Olympics must still be examined and upheld by an expert from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.The International Gymnastics Federation said it has established a pool of eligible Russian athletes and is awaiting IOC approval.Individual sports federations were given the task of deciding which athletes should be cleared to compete in Rio by the International Olympic Committee on Sunday. In his native Germany, IOC President Thomas Bach is facing increasing criticism for failing to impose a complete ban on Russias team.Germanys national anti-doping agency chief Andrea Gotzmann said the decision does not follow the IOCs declared zero tolerance policy, saying Bach has missed a huge chance.Olympic discuss champion Robert Harting said he was ashamed of Thomas Bach.---This story has been corrected to show that Isinbayevas first name is Yelena, not Irina.---Harris reported from London. AP Sports Writer Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report. Brad Miller Jersey . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Pacers Jerseys 2021 . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. https://www.cheappacers.com/503k-fred-jones-jersey-pacers.html . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Naz Mitrou-Long Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Bobby Leonard Jersey . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. Fiji will again kick off the HSBC Sevens World Series as firm favourites to take out the World Series title after an historic 2016 which saw the small island nation win its first ever Olympic gold medal.Fiji dominated the 2015/16 series reaching five Cup playoff matches and winning three of the 10 World Series stops and only months later secured the first ever Rugby Sevens Olympic gold.Fijis meteoric rise from small island nation to World Champions has also become the subject of a new documentary Sevens From Heaven, which focuses on how the Fiji side became the top ranked nation in the world despite a population of only 800,0000.ddddddddddddubai Sevens is again the first stop on the World Series trail with both mens and womens sides taking part in the event, and Fiji will be aiming to make it consecutive wins at the venue, while Australias womens side will be hoping to start their back-to-back series campaign with a bang.Both Olympic gold medal sides will face their own issues with Fiji heading into the tournament with new interim coach Naca Cawanibuka. While Australias gold medal winning side will have a few new faces. ' ' '