Two of Russia's top swimmers have been drug tested by their country's anti-doping agency only twice apiece in 2023, part of a larger trend in the country that adds an extra layer of uncertainty to the IOC's decision to allow some Russian athletes to compete next year at the Paris Olympics.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency lists on its website the number of tests it gives to individual athletes, in following a best practice it had long been urged to adapt.
It has administered some 10,500 tests in 2023 — a number the IOC highlighted in a memorandum signed by key members of the Olympic movement at a summit last week that "emphasized that doping controls in Russia continue." Among those tests, only two each were given to defending 100 and 200-metre backstroke champion Evgeniy Rylov and 50-metre backstroke world-record holder Kliment Kolesnikov.
All these athletes still have to qualify for the Paris Games, and a big part of that will include determining whether their sports — and the IOC — will allow them to compete.