Oleg Verniaiev

The FIG released the nominative roster for the Mersin Challenge Cup today, and the most exciting name to see on the list was Oleg Verniaiev, the Ukrainian Olympic champion who hasn’t competed since 2020 following a four-year doping suspension handed down at the end of that year.

Verniaiev, who tested positive for meldonium, quickly expressed his intention to appeal the suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which announced earlier this year that they would reduce his suspension from four years to two, making him immediately eligible to return to competition. While fighting for his career, Verniaiev also joined a different fight when he joined Ukraine’s war effort following the Russian invasion of his homeland in 2022. Born and raised in Donetsk, which has been under Russian occupation since 2014, Verniaiev not only joined the armed forces, but he has also been vocal in his call for Russia to be banned from all international sports and for Russian athletes who support the war to receive a lifetime ban.

It seemed that we might not see Verniaiev return to the sport with the combination of his suspension and participation in defending his country, especially with the original timeline of his suspension keeping him out of both the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. But with the suspension lifted, Verniaiev was given more than a year to get back into fighting form for Paris, and after taking some time to begin seriously training again, we’ll finally get to see him compete again in September.

Also notably on the list is Dipa Karmakar, who is also back following a doping suspension. The Olympian from India has been out of competition since 2019, dealing with injuries first before testing positive for higenamine in 2021, but with her 21-month suspension coming to an end on July 10 of this year, Karmakar is now ready to step out onto the competition floor again for the first time in more than four years, and though she hasn’t qualified for world championships this year, she will likely be fighting for a chance to represent her country at the Asian Games in September.

In total, over a hundred gymnasts from 25 countries will travel to Mersin to participate in the challenge cup, the first in the series in nearly three months following a somewhat low-key summer. Held from September 1–3, it serves as the first major international opportunity in the lead-up to world championships, which begin at the end of the month, and many of the athletes there will use this and the other challenge cups over the month – Szombathely from September 8–10 and Paris from September 16–17 – to get some experience before heading to worlds, where most will be hoping to earn Olympic bids.

The competition will begin with qualifications held on Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2, with all finals to be held that Sunday, September 3. A full list of all competitors who have registered is below.

Article by Lauren Hopkins