Individual Russian athletes who were exempted from the ban on the country's track and field team by the International Association of Athletics Federations will be allowed to participate in the Games, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Tuesday. The announcement came after Bach convened a special Olympic summit to discuss the IAAF's decision to ban Russia's track and field team from competing in the Games owing to state-sponsored doping programmes, reported the Associated Press. The original ban was imposed in November by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Bach said the sports leaders at the summit agreed that the ban on the Russian track federation should be upheld, but the handful of athletes who were exempted would compete under a neutral flag. Following the announcement, the Russian Olympic Committee said that the country will not boycott the Games. Earlier, the Russian committee had said it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport against the blanket ban on its track and field athletes.