Russian athletes can hope for permission to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics. According to the wishes of international summer sports associations and the continental associations of the National Olympic Committees, athletes who have qualified for the Olympics under a neutral flag should be allowed to take part in the Games in Paris.
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should make a quick decision on this issue, demanded the umbrella organizations at the Olympic summit in Lausanne. The IOC leadership around President Thomas Bach pointed out that participation for athletes from Russia and Belarus was only possible under strict conditions. They are only allowed to take part in Paris as individual athletes under a neutral flag and have no connection to the army and security organs. Teams are generally not permitted.
Because of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Russia’s athletes were initially excluded from international sports competitions. This also applies to athletes from Belarus, which Russia supports. The IOC had already opened the door to the major sports stages for Russia and Belarus in the spring and set the framework for participation in competitions.
According to the statement on the results of the summit, the anti-doping regulations do not stand in the way of Russians taking part in the Olympics. According to this, Russian athletes have already had to undergo 10,500 doping tests this year.
Russian athletes took part in the Paralympic Games
This should also enable athletes to meet the qualification criteria for the Summer Games. In recent months, a number of world associations have followed the IOC’s guidelines and allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus back in. In September, the International Paralympic Committee also lifted its complete ban against Russia and allowed Russian athletes with disabilities to compete under a neutral flag at the Paralympics in Paris. This was already seen as a harbinger of a corresponding decision by the IOC.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation also recently changed its course with reference to the majority opinion in international sport and advocated for Russians and Belarusians to start in Paris. “If Germany were the only country to block Russians and Belarusians from competing under a neutral flag, there would be no international sporting events in our country,” said DOSB President Thomas Weikert.
Russia wants to hold World Friendship Games
Even the recent conflict between the IOC and Russia is unlikely to prevent Olympic approval. The IOC Executive Board suspended the ROC due to the inclusion of regional sports associations in occupied Ukrainian territories in the Russian National Olympic Committee (ROC). The decision on October 5 to admit the regional sports associations of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia violated the Olympic Charter because it disregarded the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, it was said.
The Olympic summit also condemned the Kremlin’s plans to host so-called World Friendship Games in Moscow and Yekaterinburg next September. The multi-sport event was “clearly politically motivated,” the statement said. The Olympic governing bodies emphasized their intention that results from this event should not receive official recognition.
Russian athletes can hope for permission to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics. According to the wishes of international summer sports associations and the continental associations of the National Olympic Committees, athletes who have qualified for the Olympics under a neutral flag should be allowed to take part in the Games in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should make a quick decision on this issue, demanded the umbrella organizations at the Olympic summit in Lausanne. The IOC leadership around President Thomas Bach pointed out that participation for athletes from Russia and Belarus was only possible under strict conditions. They are only allowed to take part in Paris as individual athletes under a neutral flag and have no connection to the army and security organs. Teams are generally not permitted.
