US support Russian athletes competing at 2024 Paris Olympics in U-turn

Ukraine: Athletes plead with IOC to ban Russia from Olympics

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The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has called for Russian athletes to be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, a number of sanctions have been handed to Vladimir Putin’s nation, including in the sporting world.

Following the invasion, the IOC called on sporting federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competition, putting their chances of competing in Paris into doubt. Just last week though, IOC chief Thomas Bach made a huge u-turn, claiming he was open to Russia being represented at the Games.

In a press conference, Bach said: “The question of athletes’ participation was a protective measure to safeguard the integrity of international sports competitions and to ensure the safety of athletes from these two countries… The participation of athletes in sports events can only be on sporting merit and with those athletes who respect the rules of sport.

“We cannot allow governments to decide on political grounds who can participate. This would put the international sports model at risk, and we will never accept that. It is also against the international resolutions that governments signed up to.

“This put us in this big dilemma: We had to act against our values and our mission to unify the entire world in peaceful competition. We had to prohibit athletes from participating only because of their passport. 

“This is why we have made it very clear from the very beginning that we need to explore ways to overcome this dilemma with regard to athletes’ participation.” The US Olympic Committee was also keen on an initial ban in the early stages of the invasion.

Like the IOC though, the Americans have also welcomed the opportunity for Russians to compete – as long as it is without their national flag. Per the Wall Street Journal, chairwoman Lyons said: “The U.S. is supportive of finding a way for the athletes who have trained all their lives for this to be able to come back and compete.

“But we are very opposed to them coming back under their country’s imprimatur at the moment, while their governments are being sanctioned.”

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