Monday, July 22, 2024

Russian athletes fall outside the line in the sand

Russia has not fielded a full complement of Olympics athletes for many years now, due to its repeated violations of performance-enhancing drug rules. In the Tokyo and Beijing Games, Russian athletes competed under the rather awkward Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) moniker, but that didn't stop them from fielding essentially a full roster of competitors and winning a substantial haul of medals.

At the Paris Olympics, things are different. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belorusian athletes can only participate as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN in Olympics acronyms), and they will not be allowed to raise their flag or play their national anthem on the medal podium. 

Crucially, any athlete that appears to be "actively supporting" the invasion of Ukraine, or who has served in the Russian military, is specifically banned from competing. So, the onus is on the athletes to prove that they don't support the invasion, which is a kiss of death (almost literally) in Russia, as well as a difficult value judgement.

As a result only about 15 Russians have registered for the Games in 10 different sports disciplines so far (the final number could be higher). Few people will miss them. Ukrainian athletes in particular will not miss having to line up next to a Russian.

But it is a tough call. It doesn't seem very much in the Olympic spirit to ban a country due to politics, even politics as extreme as Russia's, and it's hard to know where to draw that line in the sand. For example, Israel seems to be welcomed (indeed, its athletes are being provided with special security). China is considered a global pariah in many respects, but it hasn't actually invaded anyone (yet), and so is welcome to attend. Countries like Ethiopia and Myanmar have clearly not transgressed enough to merit a ban. But, to some extent, it is very much a case of "how long is a piece of string".

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