IOC confirms select Russian athletes can participate at 2024 Paris Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that certain Russian athletes will be permitted to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics, discarding the possibility of a comprehensive ban due to Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict. This decision follows the IOC's steps initiated a year ago to gradually reintegrate Russia and Belarus, its military ally, into international sports. It also comes nine months after the IOC suggested sports federations consider allowing individual athletes to compete.

The responsibility of determining and implementing the conditions of neutral status for athletes lies with each Olympic sport's governing body. Eligible athletes must not have actively supported the war or be contracted to military or state security agencies. Those granted neutral status are required to compete without any national symbols, including flag, anthem, or colors. However, Russia remains barred from team sports events.

As of now, eight Russian and three Belarusian athletes are among the 4,600 who have qualified for the Summer Games, set to begin in July. While Russia sent a delegation of 335 athletes to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, only a handful are expected to compete in Paris.

Ukrainian athletes and officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have consistently lobbied the IOC to fully ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Olympics due to the ongoing invasion that began in February 2022.

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(With PTI inputs)