Valerie Fourneyron, the former French Sports Minister leading the invitation process, said the pool also left out any Russians who had been suspended in the past for doping offenses. 

"This means that a number of Russian athletes will not be on the list,'' she said. "Our work was not about numbers, but to ensure that only clean athletes would be on the list.'' 

That would appear to rule out potential Russian medal contenders like former NHL hockey player Anton Belov and world champion speedskater Pavel Kulizhnikov, both of whom served bans in the past but have since resumed competing.

"More than 80 per cent of the athletes in this pool did not compete at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014,'' the IOC said in a statement. ``This shows that this is a new generation of Russian athletes.''

The IOC will use the pool list to issue invitations to Russian athletes to compete in Pyeongchang, after checking their record of drug testing and retesting some samples they gave previously. The IOC also said it recommended barring 51 coaches and 10 medical staff ``associated with athletes who have been sanctioned'' for Sochi doping.

The IOC has allowed Russian Olympic Committee to select its preferred athletes despite being suspended by the IOC last month over drug use and an elaborate cover-up at the 2014 Olympics, including swapping dirty samples for clean urine. Russian sports officials say they simply want to give the IOC recommendations to ensure that top athletes aren't accidentally left out in favor of reserves.

The Russians will officially be known as ``Olympic Athletes from Russia,'' and they will wear gray and red uniforms that don't feature any Russian logos. If they win gold medals, the Olympic flag will be flown and the Olympic anthem played. (AP)