She is one of eight new proposed members for the International Olympic Committee.

The flame will be lit at Greece's ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Games, and will remain in the country for about a week before a handover ceremony in Athens and departure to France.

He opposes any notion of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing as neutrals with no use of flags or anthems allowed.

The indictment followed the arrest this month of a senior Tokyo 2020 organising committee official and three others who were accused of rigging a string of Olympic Games-related tenders.

The move increases the pressure on the International Olympic Committee, which is desperate to avoid the 2024 Paris Olympics being torn asunder by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president argues that very few Russian athletes have spoken out against the war.

The arrests come after months of investigations into alleged corruption in the planning and sponsorship of the international sporting event that was held in 2021 after a pandemic-driven postponement.

The 2024 Paris Gold Programme Monitoring Committee also lays out other criteria for athlete selection.

Chinese organisers will be quick to hail the success of the vast Covid-secure 'bubble' that enveloped the Games, with up to 70,000 people sealed off.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is looking into Valieva's entourage, after the doping controversy tarnished the second week of the Games in the Chinese capital.

The teenager tested positive at her national championships on Dec 25 but the result was not revealed until Feb 8, after she had already competed at the Beijing Games in the team event.

The case is now in the hands of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, which has to set up a hearing to decide on the fate of Valieva, hot favourite for the women's singles in Beijing.