Jared Tallent will likely have to compete against controversial Russian walkers after all in Beijing as he chases an elusive first gold medal at a global championships.
Tallent - who was beaten into second place in the 50km race behind convicted drug cheat Sergey Kirdyapkin at the 2012 London Olympics - was buoyed last month when it was revealed that Russia did not intend to send any walkers to the upcoming world titles after a flood of positive doping tests.
Russia's disgraced walking head coach Viktor Chegin - who is under investigation by athletics' world governing body (IAAF) and the Russian anti-doping agency - also announced his immediate retirement.
But there appears to have been a change of heart from the Russian track and field federation, who have entered Aleksandr Ivanov and Andrey Krivov (both men's 20km), Aleksandr Yargunkin (men's 50km) and Svetlana Vasilyeva (women's 20km) for the August 22-30 world titles.
Ivanov is the best credentialled of the quartet, having won gold in the 20km at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
"Ivanov is known to everyone as being part of the training camp in Saransk and having Chegin as a coach," rising Australian star Dane Bird-Smith, who will contest the 20km race in Beijing, told AAP on Monday.
"The other one in the 20km is also from Saransk but the guy in the 50K is from outside that."
Tallent and countryman Chris Erickson are entered in both the men's 20km and 50km races.
Australian officials declined to comment officially on the inclusion of the four Russian walkers, although they were not convinced they would make it the start-line.
Yargunkin was the only Russian walker named in their 71-strong world championships team on August 5, with Ivanov, Krivov and Vasilyeva added later to the provisional entry lists.
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