IOC wants Russians to compete as neutral athletes at Paris Olympics
The IOC made clear Wednesday it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes, in defiance of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to exclude them entirely.
Russia was not directly condemned in the statement though athletes who have been “actively supporting the war in Ukraine” face being excluded from the Paris Olympics that open in 18 months’ time, the IOC said. Zelensky addressed the issue Tuesday after speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron, who helped campaign for the Paris Olympics when it was a bid candidate in 2017.
“The priority for us remains the same – to secure the rights and interests of our athletes,” Pozdnyakov said. Russians would be classed as “neutral athletes” and “in no way represent their state or any other organization in their country,” the IOC said. Russian athletes have not competed under their country’s name at any Olympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games because of the fallout from a prolonged doping scandal.
One point raised in Ukraine as a sensitive issue is that some Russian athletes are funded and supported by the military and have been awarded ranks.
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