DUESSELDORF, Germany With 100 days until the Paris Olympics, it is still unclear whether any athletes from Russia who are expected to qualify will actually attend.
The question is whether Moscow will accept the conditions that the International Olympic Committee set for Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, it may be up to individual athletes to decide whether they want to participate.
The IOC expects 36 Russian athletes – and possibly as many as 54 – to perform well enough in qualifying to compete in Paris.
The IOC will allow them to compete as “neutral athletes,” meaning they will not be able to use their country’s flag or anthem, nor participate in team sports such as football and basketball. Athletes with military connections or who have expressed support for the war will be banned.
The same restrictions apply to Russia’s ally Belarus. Athletes from Russia and Belarus will also not be able to participate in the opening ceremony on July 26th.
Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the rules and asked the Russian Olympic Committee and Sports Ministry to come up with recommendations on whether the country’s athletes should compete in Paris.
The ROC and the Ministry of Sports have sharply contrasting opinions.
In social media posts, ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov alleged that the IOC “repeatedly thinks of illegitimate criteria” for athletes and “consistently follows external political orders to isolate Russian sport.” On April 5, he compared Russian tennis players who are willing to compete in Paris to “a team of foreign agents,” saying they play and earn money mainly outside Russia and are critical of its policies. the Russian military.
Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin, however, said Russia should not boycott the Olympics.
“We must preserve as much as possible the possibility of dialogue and participation in competitions,” Matytsin said last month in comments carried by the state news agency Tass.
Russia sent 335 athletes to Tokyo in 2021 – winning 20 gold medals out of 71 medals in total. They competed without national symbols at those Olympics and the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games because of a doping scandal.
Ukraine opposes Russian participation in the Paris Olympic Games, in any capacity, but has relaxed its policy of boycotting events where “neutral” Russians compete.
IOC President Thomas Bach suggested last month that “threats of boycotts” of the two countries were no longer an issue.
“We can now say that this discussion, at this point, is over,” Bach told a meeting of Pacific sports officials in Fiji. “We still have different opinions. One of them says that we have gone too far with sanctions for those who violate the Olympic Charter. Others say we haven’t gone far enough. This usually shows that you are in a good position if both sides are not 100% satisfied.”
The IOC’s stance on Russia has led to scattered calls for it to adopt a similar approach with Israel regarding the war in Gaza. Bach ruled this out last month.
A neutral Russian delegation would consist mainly of athletes who participate in combat sports such as judo and wrestling, and likely several of the world’s best tennis players, including former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev. He told Russian newspaper Sport-Express this month that he plans to compete in Paris. It is likely that at least three Russian cyclists and a trampolinist will also be included.
Ukrainian activists are monitoring Russian athletes’ social media activity and flagging anything they consider to violate the IOC’s neutrality rules.
One athlete who has been closely watched is two-time gold medalist wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulaev. He was initially approved to participate in the Olympic qualifiers, but was stripped of that status on April 4 in light of what wrestling’s governing body said was “new information about his support for the Ukraine-Russia war.” Friday letter to Bach claiming that nine other qualified Russian fighters and one Belarusian supported the war.
Twelve Russians have qualified so far in wrestling alone and more could happen next month.
Judo, Putin’s favorite sport since childhood, could have 10 to 12 Russians in Paris, estimates the International Judo Federation.
However, some influential Russian coaches and officials refused to send their athletes to qualifying events.
The Russian Rowing Federation said it would skip the upcoming qualifiers in protest at what its president called “discriminatory conditions”.
Swimming and gymnastics opened registrations for neutral athletes. But it is unclear whether top Russian athletes have signed up. Dozens of applications from Belarusians were approved.
Regardless of what is decided in Moscow, Russia will not compete in Olympic athletics.
The sport’s governing body, World Athletics, has not backed down on its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in the competitions it organizes, including Olympic events.
___ AP Olympics:
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