Controversy Over Russian Participation in the Olympics

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images via NPR

With next year’s Paris Olympics on the horizon, the International Olympic Committee has recently announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia and its ally Belarus remained almost completely frozen out of international sporting events. 

Many people, including Ukraine’s sports minister Vadym Guttsait, believe that the participation of Russia and Belarus defies what sports stand for, according to The New York Times. Although the modern Olympic movement was formulated to be outside the realm of politics and to use sport as a unifier, the invasion of Ukraine has led to more politicization of the Olympics, with Russian athletes being the crux of the issue.

“Now we see an undisguised desire to destroy the peace of international sports … to make sport a means of pressure to resolve political issues”, said Matysin, the president of the International University Sports Federation. 

In response to the tension, the IOC stated that the Olympics is a “unifying mission” where “the government cannot decide which athletes can participate.” That “no athletes should be prevented from competing just because of their passport.” 

The committee has guaranteed a peaceful summer game by establishing “neutral athletes” —meaning competitors without their flag, anthem, or other national signifiers. Additionally, the IOC plans to keep Russians and Belarusians under strict conditions that include rigorous supervision and constant neutrality towards the war. While the ultimate goal of the IOC is to punish the countries and not the athletes, the international community has many mixed feelings about this decision. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented that “athletes from Russia should have no place at the Olympic Games in Paris.” He cited attacks on Ukraine, the deaths of civilians, and the destruction of infrastructure. 

Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, and Nordic countries have expressed their disapproval of the 2024 Summer Olympics and demand changes. The Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas has released a statement threatening a boycott if the IOC continues with their plan, saying that “the people will understand why this is necessary.”

As a reply towards the pressure, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, expressed that sport “should not be politicized" and insinuated that even at times of war, athletes should be able to participate in their sport and be permitted at major events, including the Paris Games. 

So far, no response has been made by Russian or Belarusian officials.