IOC: Russian, Belarusian athletes to participate at Paris Olympics as neutrals

Geneva: Some Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the IOC said on Friday, in a decision that removed the option of a blanket ban over the invasion of Ukraine.

The International Olympic Committee’s decision confirms moves it started one year ago to reintegrate Russia and its military ally Belarus into global sports, and nine months after it urged sports governing bodies to look at ways to let individual athletes compete.

It is up to each Olympic sport’s governing body to assess and enforce neutral status for individual athletes who have not actively supported the war and are not contracted to military or state security agencies.

The IOC said Friday eight Russians and three from Belarus are among 4,600 athletes worldwide who have so far qualified for the Summer Games. Russia sent a team of 335 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 but only dozens are likely to compete in Paris. Russia remains banned from team sports.

“Only a very limited number of athletes will qualify through the existing qualification systems of the (governing bodies),” the IOC said in a statement.