The International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday that athletes from Russia and Belarus, who are eligible to compete in the 2024 Olympics as individual neutral athletes, will not participate in the traditional team parade at the opening ceremony.
These athletes will have the opportunity to “experience the event,” but the IOC has not yet provided details on what that will look like.
The opening ceremony will not be held at the stadium. Instead, it will take place on the Seine, where athletes will board their respective delegation boats and travel just under four miles (6 kilometers) along a route to the Eiffel Tower.
Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) competing in Paris qualified under “strict eligibility conditions”. The IOC terms include athletes who actively support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as support personnel who actively support the war effort, and those who have contracts with the military or national security agencies of Russia or Belarus. Excluded. Also, only athletes participating in individual events are eligible.
Due to ongoing sanctions against Russia and Belarus, Russian and Belarusian flags, emblems, national anthems and other identifying symbols will not be displayed at the Olympics.
There are currently 19 AIN members who have qualified for the Paris Games, 12 of whom have Russian passports and 7 with Belarusian passports. The IOC expects 36 AIN athletes with Russian passports and 22 AIN athletes with Belarusian passports to qualify.
The Olympics begin on July 26th and conclude with the Closing Ceremony on August 11th. A decision on AIN's participation in the ceremony “will be taken at a later stage, taking into account the joint participation of all athletes, not teams, who will participate in the closing ceremony,” the IOC said.
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