Senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President John Coates is uncertain about the number of Russian athletes who will be competing as neutral athletes at the Paris Games, but believes that reports suggesting it could be as few as 40 are likely accurate.
Due to the sanctions imposed in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus serving as a staging post, the IOC is permitting only certain Russian and Belarussian athletes to participate in Paris under strict conditions.
The inclusion of these neutral athletes remains a controversial topic, with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemning December’s decision to allow them as “shameful”, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo expressing that she hoped they would not attend.
“The issue lies in how many of them will actually be there, as they will not be part of any team sports since they are unable to compete as representatives of Russia,” Coates stated in an interview published in Sunday’s edition of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
“Additionally, those athletes affiliated with Russian military clubs will not be present. There may be some athletes who choose not to participate if they are unable to represent Russia.
“I could be mistaken, but I believe I came across information suggesting that the number of neutral athletes could be as low as 40.”
Neutral athletes will only take part in individual sports without any national flags, symbols, or anthems, and those who openly support the war in Ukraine, or have ties to the Russian or Belarusian military, are not eligible to compete.
Moscow, which refers to the invasion as a “special military operation”, has criticized the restrictions as “illegitimate, unfair, and unacceptable”, although Russia’s Olympic chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, has confirmed that their athletes will not boycott the Games.
Because of previous doping sanctions that prevented Russian athletes from competing under their national flag, 335 athletes participated in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games as part of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team, bringing home 71 medals. Belarus sent 101 athletes who won seven medals.
The ROC has since been suspended by the IOC for recognizing regional Olympic Councils in territories annexed from Ukraine, a ruling upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month.
Of the 4,600 athletes who had qualified for the Games at the time of the decision regarding neutral athletes in December, eight were Russians and three held Belarusian passports. More than 60 Ukrainians had also qualified.
Some sports, such as equestrian, have declared that they will not allow athletes from Russia or Belarus to compete, while World Athletics has implemented a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes since early 2022.
Other organizations, such as World Swimming and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), have announced that Russians and Belarussians will be able to compete under the IOC’s restrictions.
Russia’s number four tennis player in the world, Daniil Medvedev, stated earlier this month that he is eager to compete and will adhere to the regulations.
The Paris Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26 to Aug 11.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Tom Hogue)
