The 2024 Summer Olympics, Paris 2024, is taking place from July 26 to August 11, 2024, in France.
In October 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the Russian Olympic Committee as a consequence of Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
This led to Russian and Belarusian athletes being allowed to compete only as neutrals, Individual Neutral Athletes, in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. They will also be excluded from participating in the opening ceremony and will not be counted in the overall medal standings. Any symbols of these two countries will be prohibited at the Games.
On July 13, the International Olympic Committee released a list on its website of 15 Russian and 16 Belarusian athletes who were cleared to compete in Paris.
In total, the International Olympic Committee provided 54 quotas for Russian athletes and 28 for Belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympics in a neutral status. Some athletes declined to compete, while others were removed from the list following checks.
This is the final list of Russian athletes who will participate in the Olympics:
Tamara Dronova (cycling),
Elena Ivanchenko (cycling),
Gleb Syritsya (cycling),
Angela Bladtseva (trampoline),
Daniil Medvedev (tennis),
Roman Safiullin (tennis),
Ekaterina Alexandrova (tennis),
Mira Andreeva (tennis),
Pavel Kotov (tennis),
Diana Schneider (tennis),
Elena Vesnina (tennis),
Alexei Korovashkov (kayaking and canoeing),
Zakhar Petrov (kayaking and canoeing),
Alesya Romasenko (kayaking and canoeing),
Evgeniy Somov (swimming).
The list of Belarusian athletes:
Abubakar Khaslakhanau (Greco-Roman wrestling),
Anna Terek (cycling),
Evgeniy Zolotyi (academic rowing),
Tetiana Klimovich (academic rowing),
Vladislav Kravets (kayak and canoe rowing),
Yulia Trushkina (kayak and canoe rowing),
Ilya Shimanovych (swimming),
Anastasia Shkurdai (swimming),
Alina Zmushko (swimming),
Violetta Bordylovska (trampoline jumping),
Ivan Lytvynovych (trampoline jumping),
Daria Chupris (shot put),
Aleksandra Petrova (shot put),
Georgiy Gurtsiev (taekwondo),
Suzanna Volodko (weightlifting),
Evgeniy Tikhontsov (weightlifting).
Are these sportsmen really neutral?
Many Russian and Belarusian athletes slated to compete have been proven to openly support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Efforts to monitor and remove such athletes have been made, but many athletes are still permitted to participate. Even when not actively supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their silence expresses solidarity with the aggressor.
