Australian champion Kurt Fearnley offers support for banned Russian rival Aleksei Bychenok

PARALYMPIC legend Kurt Fearnley has implored a Russian rival shattered by the federation’s blanket Rio ban to fight through the wreckage and return for Tokyo 2020.

Australian wheelchair racing great Kurt Fearnley.

PARALYMPIC legend Kurt Fearnley has implored a Russian rival shattered by the federation’s blanket Rio ban to fight through the wreckage and return for Tokyo 2020.

Wheelchair marathoner Fearnley, co-captain of Australia’s 2016 team, begins his final Paralympic campaign on Friday night in the heats of his opening event, the 5000m.

The 35-year-old’s farewell Games will unfold without sparring partner Aleksei Bychenok, who in July was expelled from Rio by the International Paralympic Committee along with the entire team of 170 Russian athletes following revelations of widespread state-backed doping.

“I’m going to message Aleksei and wish him the best and hope that I see him in Tokyo – (although) I won’t be competing,” Fearnley said.

“But he’s a young kid who grew up in Siberia who lost both legs. His story, I have no idea whether or not he’s involved in what went down there.

Australian wheelchair racing great Kurt Fearnley.

“Unfortunately the IPC were left with no alternative.”

Russian athletes were allowed to compete at last month’s Olympic Games if they could prove they lived and trained beyond the reach of the doping program.

But the IPC rejected the full Russian Paralympic team in a hardline stance against performance enhancing drugs. The Court of Arbitration of Sport also dismissed appeals from 84 Russian athletes to compete as individuals at the Paralympic Games.

Fearnley said while it was impossible to guess how deeply Russia’s systemic doping ran, it was likely some athletes were unknowing victims of their federation’s dirty sporting hierarchy.

“I feel for the bloke, I hope he stays in the sport,” Fearnley said.

“A lot of the athletes are going to be victims of a pretty average process and some sinister stuff.

“But if we’re sitting at home and everyone finds out that ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority) are negotiating special deals, I would expect that I wouldn’t be here (either).”

Australia’s team suffered a blow of its own on the eve of the Rio games last week when para-cyclist Michael Gallagher was sent home after testing positive to performance-enhancing blood-booster EPO during a training camp in Italy.

Originally published as Australian champion Kurt Fearnley offers support for banned Russian rival Aleksei Bychenok