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• IOC opens door to Russian and Belarusian athletes at Paris 2024 amid war in Ukraine

  The International Olympic Committee is considering whether to include Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag at Paris 2024.

  The two nations are currently banned following the IOC calling on federations to exclude them amid the former's invasion of Ukraine last year.

  On Wednesday, the IOC confirmed they intend to uphold sanctions against state and government officials ahead of next year's games.

  But in a statement, they acknowledged they would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete in France.

  "No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport," the organisation's executive board said.

  "[They would be] neutral athletes and in no way represent their state or any other organisation in their country.

  “No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of these countries being displayed at any sports event or meeting, including the entire venue."

  The move has been met with criticism however, and comes just weeks after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky called for athletes to remain barred.

  A joint statement from Athletes for Ukraine and athlete association Global Athlete argued any decision to relax sanctions would endorse the war in Ukraine.

  "The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition, especially the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, will see the Russian state use athletes once more to bolster the war effort," they said.

  "[This will] distract from the atrocities in Ukraine on one of the biggest multi-sport stages in the world."

  Russian athletes competed under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee at Tokyo 2020 after the nation was officially banned following multiple doping scandals.

• McLaughlin smashes own world record to break 51-second barrier in 400m hurdles

  Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record by almost three-quarters of a second to win 400m hurdles gold at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.

  The American, who claimed double gold at Tokyo 2020 last year, including in this event, blew past her rivals to post a new world-best time of 50.68 seconds.

  It marked a further reduction on the previous world record she set last month with a remarkable 51.41 seconds, and now means she possesses five of the six fastest times in the race's history.

  The Netherlands' Femke Bol, who nabbed bronze last year in Japan, came home second for silver behind the 22-year-old, with 52.27, while United States team-mate Dalilah Muhammad.settled for bronze.

  "The time is absolutely amazing and the sport is getting faster and faster," said McLaughlin. "I only get faster from here."

  McLaughlin is now expected to consider a potential switch in her field, with a move to the 400m flat a likely option.

• Rubiales denies making Olympic intervention for Pique

  Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has rejected claims of wrongdoing after reports that Gerard Pique asked him to intervene in the selection of Spain's squad for the Tokyo Olympics.

  A series of conversations between Rubiales and Pique have been leaked by Spanish publication El Confidencial in recent days, focusing on Pique's involvement in moving the Supercopa de Espana to Saudi Arabia.

  New leaks, however, appear to show Pique asking Rubiales to ensure he was picked for the delayed 2020 Olympic Games, at which he wished to make his Spain return after retiring from international football in 2018.

  Pique is allegedly heard telling Rubiales in one audio message: "You have to do this for me Rubi, you have to get it for me," referencing a spot in the Olympic squad coached by Spain U21 boss Luis de la Fuente. The Barcelona centre-back is also have said to have hit out at Sergio Ramos' more public request to be involved.

  At a news conference held on Wednesday, however, Rubiales denied the messages exposed any wrongdoing from himself or Pique, saying it was "normal" for players, with many of whom he is close, to make such requests.

  "Maybe another one [player] appears who asked me to, and it's not Pique. I'm going to keep talking to them like that. I have a conversation with someone I've known for years and I speak as I speak," Rubiales said.

  "There were more [players] who asked me. He [Pique] announced a long time ago that he did not want to return, and I spoke with Luis de la Fuente so that he would know who had called me. 

  "It is common when one is a great player and he wants to come back [to the national team]. Then Luis made a very different decision. We act with the utmost honesty. He is not the only footballer who has asked me to do so."

  Pique, along with Ramos, was ultimately left out of the squad, with Spain earning the silver medal after a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Brazil in the final.

  Meanwhile, attention has also been drawn to the new four-team format introduced for the Supercopa since it moved to Saudi Arabia, with Rubiales' federation accused of being motivated by a financial need for giants Real Madrid and Barca to remain involved.

  Rubiales admitted that the likelihood of those two clubs being involved did result in greater revenue being generated through TV rights sales, but denied that this amounted to any sort of favouritism.

  "We sell the TV rights to the final all over the world. There are some countries that wait to bid when they are the finalists," Rubiales added. "If there is a derby or Clasico, the offer multiplies a lot. 

  "That adds to the management and would affect the variable. [But] we have no idea who is going to play in the final."