Three-time Olympic medalist, the former Russian racing cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya will be representing Uzbekistan at the summer Asian Games in Jakarta (Indonesia), which will start on August 18, the Uzbek Olympic Committee (NOC) of Uzbekistan.
Zablinskaya obtained the Uzbek passport and filed an application to the International Cycling Union (UCI) for change of sport nationality.
The Russian Cycling Federation said it was opposed to this transfer . If the federation decides to litigate her decision, Zabelinskaya may have to wait for the two-year quarantine and miss Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the very reason she opted for Uzbekistan team. The NOC did not comment on the likelihood of such a scenario.
Zabelinskaya is a two-time 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist, winning them in road race and time trial events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro she won silver in the time trial event.
In early summer of 2016, the International Cycling Union (UCI) barred Zabelinskaya from taking part in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil due to her previous doping suspension ban, which she had already sat out.
