Eligibility of athletes from Russia, Belarus at Paris Games still unclear
The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Paris summer Olympics is still unclear and no date has been set for a final decision on the matter, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Wednesday.
About 100,000 athletes around the world will be trying to qualify in the coming year and a half for the Games, with about 10,000 eventually expected to attend.
It is still unclear, however, if and how athletes from Russia and Belarus will be able to compete both in the qualification process and the Games themselves.
“This requires further consultations — they are ongoing and there is no fixed date,” Bach told an online news conference at the end of an IOC Executive Board meeting when asked whether there was a date for such a decision.
He said that while IOC sanctions against the two countries, including the ban on any of their anthems, flags or national symbols, remain in place, the “protective measures” of not letting their athletes compete in international competitions to protect the events' integrity were another matter.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, many sports bodies have moved events and suspended Russian teams or athletes while sponsors ended contracts in protest against the war.
The IOC also had recommended events in Russia be cancelled or relocated and that Russian and Belarusian athletes not take part or compete under a neutral flag.
“We had to act against our own values and mission to unify the world under peaceful competition,” Bach said. “What we never did and did not want to do was prohibit athletes from competing in competitions only due to their passports.”
While events that count toward qualification in some sports for the Paris Olympics have been held already, most sports will stage events in the coming 18 months.