It’s the end of long months of suspense and negotiations. This Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would authorize Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games under a neutral banner. A similar decision had already been taken at the end of September for Paralympic athletes.
The Russians will therefore be present, but not wearing outfits in the colors of their country. No officials either, no national anthem and even fewer white, blue and red flags on the sites of the next Games in France. You should also not expect to see a massive delegation parade, as the conditions for participation are so strict.
Exit athletes who have shown active support for the war in Ukraine, exit athletes under contract with the army or with one of the national security agencies. Also no more team events. Only “neutral individual” athletes are thus concerned. It is still necessary to have been able to overcome the obstacle of qualifications. Eight Russian athletes and three Belarusian athletes meet these criteria today.
If Russia, through its Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsine, quickly denounced “discriminatory” conditions going “against the sporting principles” claimed by the IOC, it has almost already confirmed the presence of these sportsmen. “We always support our own, they are our athletes, the members of our sporting family,” he insisted.
Putin “will be able to take advantage of the event”
“It’s a half-victory for Vladimir Putin, in the sense that he gets his foot in the door of major international sporting events,” explains Lukas Aubin, research director at IRIS, specialist in the geopolitics of sport and Russia. He cannot be satisfied with this decision, but he will still be able to take advantage of the event to send a message, regardless of the decisions and wishes of the Western powers. »
Because if several of them had positioned themselves on this subject, the final decision, as expected, fell to the IOC, itself guided by the requests of the international federations, the 206 national Olympic committees and the athletes meeting this Tuesday in Lausanne ( Switzerland) on the occasion of the 12th Olympic Summit. “The vast majority of athletes are of the opinion that athletes should not be punished for the actions of their governments,” insisted the president of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the Finnish Emma Terho.
The decision appears to be consistent with the principles of the organization which has always claimed to be apolitical. “It’s not a surprise, it’s the most logical decision given the history of the IOC,” assures Lukas Aubin. The exclusion of Russia had been a more surprising decision. Here, we return to a form of status quo. » Already, during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, then at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, the Russians had competed under a neutral banner, this time due to their country’s conviction for institutionalized doping.
