President Vladimir Putin will give a personal send-off on Wednesday to a diminished Russian Olympic team who travel to the Rio Games.
This is even as global sports bodies mull over the eligibility of Russian competitors.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had thrown Russia a lifeline on Sunday by ignoring calls for the national team to be banned over allegations of state-backed doping.
It also gave international sports federations the final say on whether individual Russian athletes could compete in Brazil.
Putin will address the Russian team on Wednesday after an earlier scheduled meeting was postponed due to the doping scandal, according to Russian news agencies which quoted the Kremlin as saying.
Putin had warned of a split in the Olympic movement, while Russian officials had cited there was a creeping political interference in sport.
However, it remains to be seen how many of the 387-strong Russian team will actually compete at the Rio Games.
Russia’s track-and-field athletes are already barred over doping offences and seven Russian swimmers, including four-times breaststroke world champion Yulia Efimova, were ruled out of the Games in August on Monday.
In a further blow to Russia’s medal hopes, two modern pentathletes and five Russian canoe sprinters were excluded by their sports’ governing bodies on Tuesday.
The excluded five included the 2012 Olympic champion Alexander Dyachenko.
The International Judo Federation (IJF), however, said the 11 Russian competitors who qualified for the Rio Games will be allowed to compete.
This a move likely to please Putin who is a judo black belt-holder and IJF honorary president.
The Russian judo squad will be joined by 18 Russian shooters who were cleared to compete by the International Shooting Federation and Russia’s equestrian team.
