By Riley Overend on SwimSwam
On a recent trip to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo declared that Russian and Belarusian athletes “are not welcome” in Paris for the Olympics this summer.
“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris and to tell Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very strongly,” Hidalgo said last week.
The statement forced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to clarify that Russian and Belarusian athletes will indeed be hosted as “neutrals” at the Paris 2024 Olympics as planned despite the remarks.
The latest comments from Russia’s deputy prime minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko, indicated last week that the government will not block neutral athletes from competing at the Paris Olympics this summer. Russian president Vladimir Putin had previously questioned the conditions for Olympic participation in December, saying no decision has been made yet about the country’s involvement in Paris this summer.
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Stanislav Pozdnyakov expressed his outrage at Hidalgo’s comment, calling for the IOC to move the event to a different location.
“In theory, if the host city is not ready to host athletes who have received the right to participate in competitions, then the IOC should at least move the Games to another place, but the IOC leadership does not comment on Ms. Hidalgo’s individual political demarche at all,” said Pozdnyakov, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in fencing.
Pozdnyakov went on to say that France has “repeatedly stated the lack of security guarantees for neutral athletes.” He also said the IOC “has done everything possible to eliminate Russia from the international sports arena and reduce to a few potential depersonalized applicants for a trip to Paris.
The ROC lost access to IOC funding in October after it was determined the organization breached the Olympic Charter by absorbing Olympic Councils in four regions illegally annexed from Ukraine.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, only 12 Russian athletes and seven Belarusians have been approved as neutral athletes for the Paris Olympics so far. They will be without their national flags or anthems as punishment for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (that was assisted by Belarus) back in February of 2022.
In order to be eligible, athletes will need to meet a strict set of criteria that includes not “actively” supporting the war in Ukraine and having no contract with the Russian or Belarusian military. Russian and Belarusian teams will also be ineligible.
Notably, neutral athletes will not have to sign a declaration condemning last year’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead, like all other athletes, they must reaffirm their commitment to respect the Olympic charter, including “the peace mission of the Olympic Movement.” In September, two-time Olympic champion swimmer Evgeny Rylov told Russian media that he’d refuse to sign a political declaration in exchange for a return to international competition.
SwimSwam: Paris Mayor: Russian, Belarusian Athletes ‘Not Welcome’ at Olympics
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