On Thursday, around 11am London time, I hit the delete key on my laptop and all but one of the names of the Russian athletes entered for the track and field competition at the Rio Olympic Games were deleted.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A minute later the same for the relay teams that had qualified for the Games.
It was a likely scenario but the bench of the Court of Arbitration for Sport can produce maverick decisions from time to time, so nothing was certain.
In the case of the individual event entries, working both outcomes was relatively easy. But in the case of the relays where only 16 teams can take part in each event, there being no ninth lane on the circular track in Rio, the 17th teams in each case could only be confirmed once it was for certain that the Russians would not take part.
Predictably the affected nations – Bahamas, Japan and Poland were uneasy about the situation as the Olympic dreams of up to six athletes in each team were on hold. The speed with which each accepted the vacant spots once offered was testament to that.
Now only the name of Darya Klishina remains on the entry list for athletics with RUS next to her name. Whether she takes up the opportunity to do so remains a big question.
Indeed whether she competes for Russia is unclear. This is the one remaining issue between the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Olympic Committee in dealing with this saga.
The IAAF’s preferred position is that she would compete as a neutral athlete. After all the Russian athletics federation is currently suspended by the IAAF.
However the Russian Olympic Committee is still, at least today, in favour with the IOC, which maintains that if Klishina takes part it must be under the Russian flag.
Either way it would be an uneasy situation for the talented long jumper, who is always a chance for the podium.
There are already reports out of her homeland that she would be branded a traitor to the country if she competed as a neutral and alternatively to her team mates if she were to opt to be the sole track and field competitor for Russia.
Living and training in the US long term provided Klishina with the “qualifications” to meet the exceptions conditions set up by the IAAF – being subject to regular anti-doping controls in an overseas jurisdiction and training outside the Russian “system”.
But if she opts to compete, it will not provide her, or indeed her family, with comfort and protection from the criticism and disdain of fellow Russians.
Today the IOC meets to decide whether it will go one step further and ban Russia from all sport in Rio. If it does it will be the biggest decision it has ever taken.