The Latest: Standing ovation for refugees’ Olympic team

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Latest from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

The 10 members of the Olympic refugee team received a standing ovation when they were introduced Tuesday at the IOC’s general assembly meeting.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach says “the ultimate goal of the refugee team is that we don’t need one anymore.”

Bach seemed to be near tears as he introduced the athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Congo and Ethiopia, and then gave a big hug to the leader of the delegation, the former Olympian Tegla Loroupe from Kenya.

Addressing some 100 IOC members, Bach says we “wanted to send a message of hope to all refugees. The refugee team will make the world more aware of the crisis.”

Yusra Mardini, a swimmer from Syria, says “we didn’t choose to leave our homelands, we didn’t choose the name of refugee.” And she added “we are still human, we are like everybody else.”

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10:05 a.m.

IOC President Thomas Bach is asking the full committee to support the decision to reject a complete ban on Russian athletes for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Bach opened the International Olympic Committee’s three-day general assembly Tuesday with another defense of the executive board’s handling of the Russian doping scandal.

He again pointed blame at the World Anti-Doping Agency for failing to act sooner on evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia, and said it would be wrong to make individual athletes “collateral damage” for the wrongdoing of their government.

Citing the strong criticism that the IOC has faced for deciding not to impose a full ban on Russia, Bach told the approximately 100 members “we are asking you for your support today for the decision we have taken.”

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8:20 a.m.

British cyclist Lizzie Armitstead has won an appeal against an anti-doping violation and is free to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Armitstead, one of the favorites for the women’s road race, missed three doping tests in a 12-month period, leading to a charge by U.K. Anti-Doping and a provisional suspension.

She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a statement released on Armitstead’s behalf on Monday said the first missed test — from August 2015 — was declared void by CAS because UKAD’s doping control officer had failed to follow procedure.

On Tuesday, UKAD confirmed the ruling by CAS and chief executive Nicole Sapstead said “we respect the outcome” of the hearing.

The 27-year-old Armitstead is the current world champion in the road race.