Many top Russian athletes faced minimal drug testing in 2023 ahead of Paris Olympics

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.

Rylov, for instance, has said he would not sign a declaration stating he does not support the war in Ukraine, which is a requirement set by the IOC for athletes to compete. Gymnasts are in limbo due to differing postures taken by international and European governing organizations in that sport.

America's anti-doping chief, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, worries about a level playing field in Paris.

"Things are not as they are being portrayed — to say that Russian athletes have been held to the same standards as other athletes is a slap in the face to clean athletes," Tygart said.

Some of America's top athletes — such as Noah Lyles (7), Sha'Carri Richardson (6), Ryan Murphy (9) and Katie Ledecky (9) —