Russia's wrestling team rejected a request from the International Olympic Committee to compete as neutrals in the Paris Games.
A “unanimous” vote of athletes, officials and coaches decided that 10 invited wrestlers “will refuse to take part in the Olympic Games,” according to a statement from the Russian Wrestling Federation (provided by the Associated Press).
The federation also deemed the invitation “unsportsmanlike.”
“We do not accept the unsportsmanlike selection principles adopted by the International Olympic Committee in drawing up the list of eligible athletes,” the statement said.
The IOC issued invitations to a total of 57 athletes from Russia and Belarus, of which 14 have already declined, including a Russian wrestler.
According to the official Olympic website, a total of 30 athletes from Russia and Belarus have so far accepted invitations to the Summer Olympics as individual neutral athletes.
The Russian wrestlers listed on the site and invited are:
- Nachin Mongsh
- Shamil Mamedov
- Arslan Bagaev
- Abdulla Kurbanov
- Alan Ostaev
- Magomed Murtazaliev
- Natalia Malysheva
- Veronika Chumykova
- Alina Kasabieva
- Elizaveta Petlyakova
The wrestlers were meant to represent the largest group of Russian athletes in any sport at the Summer Olympics under the individual neutral athlete system, according to the Associated Press.
The IOC has launched a program to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Paris amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee's executive board said in December that Russian and Belarusian athletes would only be invited if they had no ties to the military or security services and did not publicly support the war.
Russian athletes recently competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics as part of the Russian Olympic Committee. The Russian Federation was banned from all major sporting events for four years by the World Anti-Doping Agency following a 2019 state-sponsored doping scandal.
