Olympic all-around bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina leads the five-woman Russian Olympic gymnastics team confirmed Thursday, a squad that might not be allowed to compete in Rio.
Mustafina and fellow 2012 Olympic team silver medalist Maria Paseka are joined by would-be Olympic rookies Angelina Melnikova, Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan.
The International Olympic Committee is expected to rule in the next week on Russia’s eligibility for the Olympics in all sports. The Russian track and field team has already been banned for a poor anti-doping record.
Missing from a provisional Russian Olympic gymnastics team announced in December are 2012 Olympians Viktoria Komova and Ksenia Afanasyeva, who are both out for health reasons.
Russia took silver behind the U.S. at the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Olympics but fell to bronze at the 2014 Worlds and fourth in 2015.
Mustafina, the 2010 World all-around champion, finished third and fourth in the 2013 and 2014 World all-around standings behind winner Simone Biles and then missed the 2015 Worlds due to health issues, most notably a back injury.
Paseka is the reigning world vault champion.