Russian athlete Darya Klishina has been widely criticised after she agreed to compete under a neutral flag at next month’s Olympics, a move which could make her one of Russia’s only track-and-field athletes not banned due to a national doping scandal.

Social media denounced the long jumper as a “traitor” after she thanked her sponsors and coaches for their support and expressed gratitude to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) for allowing her to compete.

The IAAF reportedly rejected bids from 67 Russian athletes who applied for individual dispensation to bypass the blanket ban imposed on Russia’s athletics team for massive “state-sponsored” doping, but found that the US-based Klishina could demonstrate she was clean.

Klishina still needs approval from the International Olympic Committee, as does 800-metre runner Yulia Stepanova, the whistleblower whose allegations about cheating in Russian athletics were initially ignored but subsequently snowballed into one of the biggest scandals to hit Russian sport.

On the 10 July, Klishina wrote on Facebook that she is “really happy” to be allowed to compete. The post was met with messages of support as well as a barrage of accusations of treachery.

The Argumenty I Fakty newspaper aggregated some examples of the biting reaction from social networks in a piece titled One Against All. How Athlete Darya Klishina Became An ‘Enemy Of The People’.

“Not a word about the other Russian athletes, although you’re the only one who got a green light for Rio from the IAAF. Where’s the solidarity?” the newspaper quoted a man named Aleksandr Agafanov as saying.

On the 11 July, popular Kremlin pool journalist Dmitry Smirnov compared Klishina’s action to that of Soviets who collaborated with the Nazis after being tempted by promises of instant gratification: “Hot food, rest, and medical attention await you in German captivity!” he wrote on Twitter.

Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee, wrote sarcastically about the hopeful Olympic pair, linking their names to Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian doping lab who fled to the United States, where he alleged details of a Russian state cover-up to suppress systematic doping and cheating.

“A ‘worthy’ team is being assembled... Stepanova, Klishina... And Grigory Rodchenkov will be appointed coach-consultant,” Markin wrote on Twitter.

Further bans?

Responding to the backlash, Klishina defended her decision to compete as a neutral athlete, but said she had been deeply affected by the criticism.

“To be honest, things were much more peaceful before today’s situation. I would be happy if all of us had been allowed to compete,” she said.

“But now I am under pressure and heightened attention, which is not always affirmative and positive. So, currently, the situation for me is much worse than it was yesterday.”

Russian lawmaker Svetlana Zhurova has tried to rein in the critics. “There’s no reason to pounce on the sportswoman. We are ourselves putting pressure on the girl, and when she wins a medal we’ll be sorry,” Zhurova told LifeNews. “It’s not a fact that Klishina is the only one who will be going to the Olympics.”

Anti-doping authorities have issued several rounds of damning findings that suggest Russian officials and athletes went to great lengths to avoid cooperation with international doping-control teams.

The probes also threaten to keep weightlifters, cyclists, and other Russian athletes out of international competition.

The international Court of Arbitration for Sport is set to rule on the ban on Russians competing in Rio after an expedited decision by the 21 July.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is also due to issue fresh conclusions about doping in Russian athletics in the next week. These findings could possibly include the results of new tests on samples from previous Olympics, including the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

A version of this article first appeared on RFE/RL