Time is running out for both nations, whose weightlifters will not be eligible to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unless they participate in at least one qualifying competition before the middle of June.

They missed the first qualifier, the 2022 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Colombia in December, because of sanctions imposed on both nations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Unless the IOC gives athletes from Russia and Belarus a pathway into qualifying competitions in the next few weeks, perhaps as "neutral" competitors, they will not able to qualify to lift in Paris.

Continental championships in April and May provide the next opportunity for prospective Olympians, and the third qualifying event is the IWF Grand Prix in Havana, Cuba, in June.

Rankings lists are compiled after each qualifying competition, and anybody who does not feature on the lists after the Cuba GP will not be able to participate in five events - the minimum required in the qualification rules - before qualifying finishes in April next year.

Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) said he expected an update from the IOC by mid-March.

Russia and Belarus were allowed to make preliminary entries for the European Championships "as a technicality, not as a decision that they can compete", Conflitti said.

If their athletes had been barred from making preliminary entries, they would not be able to benefit from any decision by the IOC, should it make one in their favour before the final entries deadline of March 15.

At the top of each page of preliminary entries the EWF states: "Belarus and Russia participation is subject to review and final IOC and IWF updated recommendations/decision."

When the IWF Athletes Commission conducted a poll on social media, nearly 75 per cent of the 2,000 athletes and officials who responded said they were against the idea of weightlifters from Russia and Belarus competing in Paris or any IWF competitions under a neutral sporting flag.

The IWF is awaiting further updates from the IOC and did not wish to comment on the situation, instead referring back to its statement made on January 26 which said: "The IWF stands in solidarity with Ukraine and reaffirms its support for the IOC’s sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian State and Government.

"The IWF believes strongly in the unifying mission of sport and the Olympic Movement and welcomes the exploration of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under strict conditions.

"The IWF will uphold the current protective measures in place while this pathway is considered."

The final entries deadline for the Asian Championships - which could be another option for athletes from Russia and Belarus - is April 5 and for Cuba it is likely to be the first week of May, depending on precise dates for the Grand Prix, which have yet to be fixed.

The head coach of Russia’s weightlifting team, Ibragim Samadov, said yesterday that his federation had "formed applications for participation in the European Championships," which run in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, from April 15 to 23.

"Further on, we will act according to the situation," Samadov told Russia's official state news agency TASS.

In the preliminary entries for Yerevan two Russian women have posted the highest entry totals at the top of their weight category.

In the 81 kilograms category Daria Akhmerova and Iana Sotieva, both Russian, head the entries on 252kg and 251kg and the athletes with the third and fourth highest totals are both from Ukraine - Iryna Dekha and Alina Marushchak.

At 87kg the former super-heavyweight world champion and world record holder Tatiana Kashirina heads the entries with a total of 275kg, ahead of the Norwegian world champion Solfrid Koanda.

Kashirina returned to training last year after a doping-related charge against her, based on historic data from the Moscow Laboratory, was dropped by Russia’s national anti-doping agency.

Although Russia has entered 38 athletes for Yerevan and Belarus 27, the lists include 25 reserves and any nation cannot have more than 20 in its team, split equally between males and females, in the final entries.

In a statement last on Friday (February 17), the IOC said: "No decision has been taken on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

"The topic under discussion is about their participation in international competitions in Asia in the forthcoming summer sport season."

France are among 30 countries to have signed a joint statement calling on the IOC to clarify the definition of "neutrality" for Russians and Belarusians to compete at Paris 2024.