According to International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President John Coates, as many as 40 Russian athletes could compete as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“The problem is how many people [Russian athletes] Because they're not going to participate in any team sports because they can't compete as Russia,'' Coates told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.
“A ready-made person from a Russian military club will not go,” the 73-year-old added. “I don't know, but some players may choose not to participate if they do not want to compete for Russia.”
Mr Coates, who is also a former president of the Australian Olympic Committee, concluded: [not] True, but I think I read it [the Russian contingent] He might be around 40 years old. ”
Under sanctions introduced in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, in which Belarus was a transit point, the IOC is allowing only some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Paris with strict restrictions. .
The participation of neutral athletes remains controversial, with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calling the December decision to admit them “shameful”. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said last week that he does not want the Russian team to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“I hope they don't come,” Hidalgo told Reuters. “It would be very difficult to see that even under a neutral flag, because we know how much President Putin values the Russians, these players.”
Neutral athletes will only compete in individual competitions this summer without a flag, emblem or national anthem. Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine or who have contracts with the Russian or Belarusian armed forces are ineligible to participate.
The Russian government described the invasion as a “special military operation” and said the restrictions were “unlawful, unfair and unacceptable,” but Russia's Olympic chief Stanislav Pozdnyakov said athletes would not boycott the Games. admitted that.
Due to doping sanctions, which prevent them from competing under the Russian flag, 335 athletes took part in the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games, winning 71 medals. Belarus sent 101 athletes and won seven medals.
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The Republic of China was subsequently suspended by the IOC for recognizing regional Olympic councils in territories annexed from Ukraine, a decision upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) last month.
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Athletes from both countries are not allowed to compete in some sports, such as equestrian, while World Athletics has implemented a complete ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus from early 2022.
World Swimming, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and others plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under IOC restrictions. Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev said earlier this month that he was looking forward to competing in Paris and would abide by the rules.
The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26th to August 11th. Of the 4,600 players eligible to compete at the time of the neutral selection in December, only eight were Russian and three held Belarusian passports. At that time, more than 60 Ukrainian athletes had qualified for the Olympics.
