Top Line
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Tuesday she was not in favor of Russian or Belarusian athletes participating in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, calling for a boycott of the sporting event by some European countries because of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. .
Some countries have said that they will boycott the 2024 Paris Olympics.
important facts
hidalgo, who before this stated that she would support Russian or Belarusian athletes participating as independent Olympians, Said On Tuesday he said “as long as this is war, this Russian aggression on Ukraine” should be banned.
The International Olympic Committee proposed allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate as independent Olympians late last month, saying they would only be allowed to compete if they publicly supported Russia’s war effort. would not have supported.
Prime Minister representing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Said Last week allowing Russians to compete in the Olympics was “morally reprehensible”, with every country threatening to boycott the event.
Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortnicjuk said this reuters A group of “30 or maybe more than 40” other countries, including Poland, the US, Canada and the UK last week, are expected to announce a boycott this week.
The US has previously said it supports barring Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Olympics unless it is “absolutely clear” that they are not representing their respective countries. According To Politico.
amazing facts
Some sports have already implemented bans on Russian or Belarusian athletes. Organizers at Wimbledon banned tennis players from Russia and Belarus last year, while the Union Cycliste Internationale – the governing body for sports cycling – banned Russian and Belarusian cyclists from participating in teams representing their countries. International Judo Federation also banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international judo events from September 2022 to January 2023 "to ensure the safety of all athletes in the sport of judo."
Adverse
Although some governing sports organizations have banned Russians and Belarusians, others believe it is wrong to punish individual athletes. US Open Said Last year it would allow Russians and Belarusians to enter its tournaments because of "concerns about holding individual athletes accountable for the actions and decisions of their governments."
main background
Several sanctions have been imposed against the Russian Olympic Committee in recent years. The World Anti-Doping Agency found evidence of a state-sponsored doping program involving Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and later confirmed a whistleblower report that Russian-based laboratories had manipulated doping test results. Because of this, Russian athletes were not allowed to compete under the Russian flag and since 2016 have competed under the moniker ROC and an Olympic flag in all international competitions. These sanctions were set to expire in December 2022, although WADA has not said whether they will reinstate Russia. According to Reuters. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC said it "strongly condemns" Russia's violation of the Olympic Truce, a UN-backed resolution that prohibits all warfare during and for a week after the competition. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the first to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, saying they "should have no place" at the event.
what to watch
A meeting is expected to begin on Friday to propose a larger boycott of the Olympics, according to Bortnikzuk.
tangent line
The largest boycott of an Olympic event occurred at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, when more than 60 countries, including the United States, Canada, and China, boycotted the Games in protest of the Soviet–Afghan War.
Russian athletes may compete in the 2024 Olympics – but not under the Russian flag (forbes,
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