Russian doping: Cas to hear 39 cases against lifetime Olympic bans on Monday

Bobsledder Aleksandr Zubkov was the flag bearer for Russia in Sochi

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has announced it will hear the cases of 39 banned Russian athletes on 22 January.

It had received applications from 42 Russians appealing against their lifetime Olympic bans following doping offences at the 2014 Winter Games.

The athletes will attend the hearing which begins at 09:30 Swiss time.

Witnesses Dr Grigory Rodchenkov and Richard McLaren are expected to testify by video or telephone conference, CAS said in a statement.

It also said that the cases of three biathletes - Olga Zaytseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova - would not be among those heard next week as the relevant procedures have been "suspended".

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the first Russian bans, based on the findings of the 2016 McLaren report, on 1 November.

Any decisions are expected to be communicated between 29 January and 2 February which is just a week before the opening ceremony of this year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

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The IOC banned Russia from competing at the forthcoming Games, in December.

Those who can prove they are clean will be allowed to compete in South Korea under a neutral flag. But athletes must not have been disqualified or declared ineligible for any violation of anti-doping rules.

Sochi 2014 gold medallists Alexander Legkov (cross-country skiing), Aleksei Negodailo (bobsleigh), Aleksandr Tretiakov (skeleton), Dmitry Trunenkov (bobsleigh) and Aleksandr Zubkov (bobsleigh) are among the 42 athletes to have appealed against their bans.

Bobsleigh's Maxim Belugin is the only banned athlete not have lodged an appeal.

Great Britain's four-man bobsleigh team will also learn whether they are to receive a retrospective Olympic bronze medal from Sochi 2014 when Cas makes its ruling.

The British four-man team - led by pilot John Jackson - initially finished fifth at the Sochi Games, but could be upgraded to bronze after the IOC disqualified the two Russian sleds - who finished first and fourth - after re-examining the doping tests conducted at the time.