The IOC announced on Friday that certain Russian athletes will be permitted to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, eliminating the possibility of an outright ban because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Nine months after the International Olympic Committee urged sports governing bodies to consider measures to allow individual athletes to compete, the organization’s decision to reintegrate Russia and its military ally, Belarus, into international sports was confirmed.
Even though the IOC’s formal stance was anticipated, several Olympic observers were taken aback by the timing, as rumours from Paris last week indicated that the long-awaited decision would be made in March.
For individual athletes who have not actively backed the war and are not employed by the military or national security services, it remains the responsibility of the governing body of each sport, which oversees its Olympic competitions, to determine and uphold their neutral status.
Out of the 4,600 competitors worldwide who have already qualified for the Summer Games, the IOC said on Friday that eight athletes are from Russia and three are from Belarus. Over 60 competitors from Ukraine have prepared, and the IOC predicted that the nation will send over 150 athletes in total.
Only a few dozen Russian athletes are expected to compete individually in Paris, despite the country sending 335 participants to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when they won 20 gold medals out of a total of 71. Russia can’t participate in team sports anymore.
“Only a very limited number of athletes will qualify through the existing qualification systems of the (governing bodies),” the International Olympic Committee stated in a statement.
Those granted neutral status must compete without using their flag, national anthem, or national colours. The International Gymnastics Federation has mandated light blue jerseys.
The Russian government and sports authorities have consistently maintained that any limitations placed on its athletes are inappropriate and politically motivated.
Because of the war that Russia instigated, Ukrainian leaders and athletes, notably President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have requested the IOC to ban Russia and Belarus from the Olympics altogether. According to Zelenskyy’s January statement, it is “obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood.”
They have said that the authorities will utilize any Olympic medals won by Russian athletes as propaganda. Russian gold winners are frequently associated with military sports organizations like the army-affiliated CSKA.
The Olympic and sports authorities have been under pressure from Ukraine’s European friends, and the sports minister of Sweden has described the IOC decision as “upsetting and very regrettable.”
Sports Minister Jakob Forssmed said on social media, “Neutral flag is an illusion and this contributes to normalizing the Russian war of aggression!”
World Athletics has adopted the most stringent position against Russian athletes, excluding them from participating in international competitions since the invasion began in February 2022.
When the conflict broke out a few days after the Beijing Winter Games closing ceremony, the IOC and its President Thomas Bach also advocated for Russia to be excluded from sports. However, they softened their stance as the Paris qualifying events drew near.
Since the steroid-tainted 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, which was Bach’s first year as IOC president, requests for the ban of Russia and its athletes have been made for five consecutive Olympics, including the one in Paris. For the fourth straight game, Russian athletes will compete in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN, the French acronym for “individual neutral athletes”), as the use of the primary team name “Russia” was prohibited.
Bach has stated on numerous occasions that there are dozens of continuing conflicts, like the war in Ukraine, and that athletes globally, particularly those from Africa, do not want their fellow rivals to suffer because of their government’s activities.
Last year, Bach emphasized the seriousness of Russia’s violation of the Olympic Truce, which the UN enforced in preparation for the Winter Games and Paralympics in China.
This month in New York, the United Nations adopted a new Olympic Truce for Paris, although only 118 of the 193 member states voted in support of it. Syria and Russia did not vote.
The IOC and the organization that oversees their sport will personally invite Russian competitors to compete in Paris; this will not be impacted by the National Olympic Committee’s present suspension.
The main reason for the cosmetic censure was that regional sports councils from the occupied east of Ukraine were admitted as members of the ROC. When Russian Olympic officials took a similar approach following the illegitimate invasion of Crimea in 2016, nothing was done.
IOC stated on Friday that it “reaffirmed again the steadfast commitment of the entire Olympic movement to help Ukrainian athletes in every way possible.” The IOC has set aside $7.5 million for sports in Ukraine.
