Paris Olympics 2024: IOC aiming to include Russian athletes despite Ukrainian president’s call for their ban

Despite the call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the International Olympic Committee wants to give these athletes the opportunity to compete.

After Wednesday’s executive board meeting, the IOC made it clear that athletes won’t be penalized just because of where they were born.

“No athlete should be prevented from participating in competitions just because of his passport,” This is stated in the statement of the IOC..

The IOC also said it wants to create a “path” for all athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympics, while noting that some governments will not have the power to determine which athletes will compete and which athletes will have to be watched from the sidelines.

“Governments should not decide which athletes can and cannot compete in which competitions,” the IOC wrote.

Although Russia was not explicitly mentioned in the IOC statement, it did state that athletes could compete as “neutral athletes” not affiliated with any particular country. In recent Olympic Games, Russian athletes competed under the pseudonym “Olympic Athletes from Russia” and did not compete under the national flag.

While the IOC emphasized that athletes would not be banned due to their home country’s actions, it also added that “only those who did not oppose the IOC’s peacekeeping mission by actively supporting the war in Ukraine can compete.”

During a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelensky expressed his wish that Russian athletes be banned from the Paris Olympics next year due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“I specifically emphasized that athletes from Russia should not have a place at the Olympic Games in Paris. Zelensky wrote about this in his Telegram account..

While Zelenskiy was clear about his wishes, the IOC said the “overwhelming majority” of participants in his consultation meetings wanted all athletes to be able to compete in the 2024 Olympics under certain conditions.