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LONDON -- Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova was cleared by the IAAF on Friday to compete as a neutral athlete in the European championships and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.While her participation in next weeks European meet is assured, it remains uncertain whether the IOC will accept the decision for the Olympics.The IAAF said its doping review board accepted Stepanovas application to compete as an independent athlete under exceptional eligibility rules.The 800-meter runner provided evidence to the World Anti-Doping Agency of widespread cheating in Russia that led the IAAF to bar the countrys track and field athletes from international competition, including the Rio Games.Stepanova, who served a two-year doping ban before turning whistleblower, is living and training in the United States at an undisclosed location.The IAAF said Stepanovas petition to compete was granted because she made a truly exceptional contribution to the protection and promotion of clean athletes, fair play, and the integrity and authenticity of the sport. Stepanova is now eligible to compete in international competitions as an independent neutral athlete.The IAAF added that her participation as a neutral athlete is still subject to acceptance by the organizer of the competition in question, in accordance with the rules of that competition.The IAAF also said more than 80 Russian athletes applied to compete in Rio under exceptional eligibility provisions.The ruling on Stepanova came in time for the European championships in Amsterdam. Meet organizers welcomed her participation, saying she will compete under the European Athletics flag. The 800 heats will be on Wednesday.The decision to accept Stepanovas participation is in accordance with the competition rules of the European Athletics Championships, the European body said, adding it also recognized her exceptional contribution to the anti-doping fight.Stepanovas status for the Olympics remains uncertain, however.The IAAF and the International Olympic Committee have been at odds over how any Russian athletes would be represented if cleared for the games. The IOC says they should compete under the Russian flag, while the IAAF insists they should be under a neutral flag.The IOC said on Friday it had taken note of the IAAF announcement, stressing that Stepanovas eligibility is contingent on acceptance by event organizers.As said before, the IOC will carefully study the case of Ms. Stepanova once the IAAF has passed on the file with all the available information as requested by the IOC, the Olympic body said in a statement. The IOC also took note that the IAAF received more than 80 applications from other Russian athletes seeking `exceptional eligibility in international competitions.The IOC has said that entry of Russian athletes for the games would be under the control of the Russian Olympic Committee, which is not suspended. That means they would use the Russian flag.Stepanova was one of the worlds top 800-meter runners before she and her husband Vitaly Stepanov, a drug-testing official, provided evidence to German broadcaster ARD and WADA that doping was systematic in Russian athletics, with officials helping to cover it up.WADA welcomed Fridays ruling allowing Stepanova to return to competition, saying on its official Twitter feed that we fully support the decision and we now look forward to seeing Ms. Stepanova participating in international competitions as a neutral athlete.Russia was banned from all international competition by the IAAF in November after a WADA report alleged state-sponsored doping in the country.The IAAF upheld the ban last month, saying Russia failed to meet reform conditions. But the IAAF also approved a measure allowing individuals to compete as neutral athletes if they can show they have been regularly tested by a reliable agency. Russias own anti-doping agency was almost entirely shut down last year after it faced cover-up claims.The special eligibility measure is aimed largely at Russians who have been based abroad, and few athletes are likely to be considered, though U.S.-based long jumper Daria Klishina, a two-time European indoor champion, is likely to be one.The deadline to apply is Monday, and a decision on all claims will be made by July 18. The Olympic track and field competition starts on Aug. 12.Dmitry Shlyakhtin, the head of the suspended All-Russia Athletic Federation, said it was absolutely neutral on Stepanovas eligibility, in comments to the Tass news agency. He added the federation supported 68 applications by Russians to the IAAF but maybe someone filed applications themselves.---AP Sports Writers Dennis Passa and James Ellingworth contributed to this report.Nike Air Force 1 Just Do It Schweiz . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. 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That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself.BERGISCH-GLADBACH, Germany -- In the retro-looking gym that serves as the talent-honing center for Germanys potential Olympian gymnasts, girls aged six and seven in leotards execute their somersaults and back flips under watchful trainers.From a distance, it is difficult to distinguish Oksana Chusovitina from the kids. However, she has a son who is about three times the age of the young aspiring gymnasts.Only when she approaches, do features on her small frame reveal differences: The muscles hardened by years of top-level competition, and the lines around the face tell of experience.Chusovitina will compete at her seventh Olympics when she goes to Rio de Janeiro, becoming the oldest Olympic female gymnast in history at age 41.I am feeling good, she said, speaking German in an interview with The Associated Press. On the podium, everyone is the same whether you are 40 or 16. You have to go out and do your routine and your jumps.But its a pity there are no points for age, she added, breaking into an easy smile.Chusovitina, back representing her native Uzbekistan, is an anachronism in an age when gymnasts enter major competitions at 16, and most are teenagers. A legal limit was imposed to prevent ever younger girls coming to competitions.Her dedication and love of the sport keep her going, she said.I have no pain, no problems. The toughest for me is to wait until the next training, Chusovitina said.As the Olympics approach, she trains two, three hours a day, or as she puts it, not so much.About 1.50-meters (five-feet) tall and weighing about 43 kilograms (95 pounds), Chusovitina looks very fit. She cannot really pinpoint the reason for her competitive longevity.I dont know how I stay fit, I think you have to ask my mother, she said, suggesting good genes.I love this sport, I love training, I am always eager to train, Chusovitina said.Chusovitinas best chance for a medal in Rio is the vault, in which she won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, then ccompeting for Germany.dddddddddddd She has 10 medals in the vault at world championships, plus one in the floor.But she is reluctant to speak about a podium finish in Rio.I dont want to talk about the podium or the medals. I first want to prepare in the time before the games, fly to Brazil, and be healthy, she said.Speaking of which, Chusovitina said she was not worried about the Zika virus even though some top male golfers, notably, have pulled out of the Olympics because of fears of getting infected.I am not flying to Brazil to get pregnant, she said, laughing loudly.As she jumped onto the beam for a few moves, her son Alisher walked into the gym to wait for her to finish training.Alisher is the reason Chusovitina mostly lives and trains in Germany. She is married to Uzbekistans Olympic wrestler, Bakhodir Kuranov, and their son was born in 1999.In 2002, Alisher was diagnosed with leukemia. Unable to get treatment for her son or to pay for it, Chusovitina came to Germany at the invitation of a club in Cologne. A fundraising campaign and money she earned in competitions paid for Alishers treatment, and he is fully recovered. Approaching his 17th birthday, Alisher is more interested in basketball than in gymnastics.During Alishers treatment, Chusovitina competed for Germany, winning silver in the vault in Beijing and a pair of world championship medals.Her international career began for the Soviet Union with gold medals in the team event and the floor, and silver in the vault, at the 1991 worlds in Indianapolis.The next year, she earned a team gold at the Barcelona Olympics, now for the Unified Team, one of the successor teams of the Soviet Union.Her German manager, Michael Fabig, thinks Chusovitina may not be through with the Olympics after Rio.I dont think shell ever retire, he said with an I-give-up shrug of his shoulders. ' ' '