The Beijing Olympic Games opens with a magnificent ceremony
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18:31, 18 January 2024
Will the Ukrainians and Russians who fought and suffered against each other in the war also meet on the sports field? This possibility exists if the International Paralympic Committee does not abandon its decision to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Paralympic Games. However, the paralympians of neither Latvia nor many other European countries do not want to allow such a situation and are ready to take active action. The Olympians, who do not want to compete with Russian representatives, have a similar position. The program “360TV Ziņneši” delved into the situation.
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This is the Olympic year, when our athletes will go to Paris, our Olympic committee will still have to work properly there, because now that the decision has been made that Russian athletes can compete, our committees are starting to work on changing this decision. And in two months, in Riga, our Paralympic Committee will call together the Paralympic Committees of other European countries to decide on a common position regarding Russian and Belarusian athletes.
The Latvian Paralympic Committee has its own arsenal of weapons to use against Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games, the general secretary of the committee Liene Apine explains to the program: “We are collecting evidence that the Russian Paralympic Committee is very supportive of Putin’s policy.
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We see that the Paralympic athletes in Russia do not hide their support for what the Russians are doing in Ukraine.
Another aspect that is not talked about in the case of para-athletes is that these athletes who have become para-athletes have gained in war. They may have shot Ukrainians.”
It must be understood that we, as a small country, are a spit in the sea. Our position is of interest, unfortunately, only to ourselves and to the countries around us.
LOK President Jānis Buks outlines future action plans and allied countries. “We have several lines of action where we coordinate their actions with regional countries – the Baltics, Nordic countries and Poland and, of course, Ukraine itself.
My economic ministries of the countries of the named region could approach the sponsors of the Olympic Games.
To promote their refusal to sponsor the Olympic Games or the International Olympic Committee, in case Russian athletes participate in the Olympic Games.”
While the government is still thinking about what to do, the president of the Latvian Olympic Committee mentions that the hope that Russian athletes might not participate is growing.
“There are already the first hints that the Russians themselves will not go to the Olympic Games. The Russians themselves have decided that the Russian Olympic Committee and the state will in no way support those neutral athletes who will go to the Olympic Games. There is a very high probability that with our intensive work, we will achieve the result we want.”
One of the potential representatives in Paris is MTB cyclist Mārtiņš Blūms. Although the qualification will take place until May, he has already fulfilled all the requirements to be in Paris. He says that Russian and Belarusian athletes have not participated in the sport he represents for some time.
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“I don’t see any problem in participating and I don’t feel guilty that I participate. For someone, it is the only chance in life to participate in the Olympic Games, but as 3×3 basketball players who started [paust nepiedalīšanos, ja Krievijas sportisti piedalās]they, as Olympic champions, have more or less had the Olympic Games for them.”
Whether we as a country will participate in the Olympic Games with all the athletes can be decided until the middle of July. If we say no to the Olympic Games, there may be sanctions against us, such as exclusion for an indefinite period. We are in a kind of vicious circle – everything we do can be painful for our athletes. The International Olympic Committee is set up in such a way that if you go against them, you will lose. Unfortunately, but the Olympic Games is one big business. Let’s hope that Russia itself decides not to participate.
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2024-01-18 16:42:02
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