Why there may still be Russian, Belarusian athletes at the Paris Olympics
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The International Olympic Committee may not be inviting Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, but there’s no rush to decide whether athletes from those countries will be there.
“I think we are going to take our time,” IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters during a virtual media roundtable Tuesday about the upcoming Olympics, according to a translation of his response in French.
Bach ruled out any decision this summer on whether Russians and Belarusians can compete in Paris as “neutral athletes,” stripped of any identification of their home countries including flags, anthems or team colors.
“We need to be as confident as possible that the right choice is being made,” he said, adding he “cannot imagine” a decision coming at the IOC’s annual session in October, either.
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In reality, the IOC leader said in French in response to another question, the deadline “is just before” the Paris Olympics begin a year from now, adding it’s “very difficult” to be more specific.
“I really ask you for your understanding,” Bach said, according to a translation. “We want to do this in a diligent manner and in order to do that, we’ve got to see exactly what is going to happen during the qualifiers.”
So far, he said, the IOC’s recommendations spelling out the “strict conditions” for Russians and Belarusians to participate in international competitions as “neutral athletes,” as long as they have not actively supported the war against Ukraine, are working.
The controversial conditions announced earlier this year are a reversal of the IOC’s previous policy of calling for Russians and Belarusians to be barred from international competition, imposed soon after Russia invaded Ukraine with help from neighboring Belarus.
“Everything has been running as it should be. The rules are being respected,” Bach said. He said the international sports federations that have adopted the recommendations have had “good experiences” with Russian and Belarusian competitors.
“None of these individual neutral athletes has tried, up to now, to show the colors of their country or to make any statements,” Bach said. Unlike a previous speech, he did not criticize Ukraine for keeping its athletes from competing against Russians and Belarusians.
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In June, Bach told a special virtual session of the IOC that “Ukrainian athletes are being sanctioned by their own government for the war that has been started by the Russian and Belarusian governments.”
Nor did the IOC leader address recent comments made by Russian officials about so-called “neutrality declarations” some athletes have been asked to sign that spell out their opposition to the ongoing war.
That is “unacceptable,” Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin told reporters on Monday while acknowledging admission to the Olympics “is the prerogative of the IOC,” The Sports Examiner reported.
“For us, the only unacceptable condition is the signing of some declarations that would be positioned as criticism of a special military operation, the policy of our state. Our athletes, coaches will never agree to this,” Matytsin said.
He also said for Russian athletes, competing under a neutral flag is “a discriminatory element. But nevertheless, they participate,” noting there’s “some chances” that could include next year’s Summer Games.
