The still highly publicized stage of D – 1 year before the Paris 2024 Games, Wednesday July 26, and its procession of announcements and celebrations, will remind us once again: the question of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the events Olympics is still not resolved. And there is no indication today that it will be in the coming months.
The last episodes of the soap opera have illustrated this: for a step forward towards a return of athletes from the two countries to the international scene, the Olympic movement is taking two steps back.
Tuesday July 11, the Russian agency TASS reported two new pieces of information confirming the trend. The first is in line with the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board, expressed at the end of March. The second turns her back on him.
According to TASS, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has decided to allow 18 Russian riders, plus 14 others representing Belarus, to participate in international competitions. The list has been revealed. It is accompanied by the conditions of their return: the athletes will be admitted under neutral status, they will take part in competitions, including the stages of the World Cup and the world championships, on an individual basis.
As a reminder, last May the UCI joined the contingent of international federations having chosen to follow the recommendations of the IOC, and to study the conditions for the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes. Some are still at the study stage. The UCI has concretized its approach with a first list of returnees.
Second information, contradictory to the first: Russian and Belarusian athletes will remain excluded from the next edition of the World University Games. It is scheduled to be held from July 28 to August 8, 2023 in Chengdu, China.
To a question from the agency TASS on the participation of athletes from the two countries at war with Ukraine, a FISU spokesperson responded Tuesday July 11 in the negative. “ They won’t be.”, he explained.
The regulations for the multisport event specify that the deadline for submitting applications for participation was June 28. To this date, no entries from Russian or Belarusian athletes have been recorded.
Paradox: the World University Games were initially awarded to the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. But in April 2022, the FISU executive committee announced its decision to withdraw the organization of the event from Russia, due to the conflict in Ukraine. The Chinese city of Chengdu served as plan B.
Russia's reaction was not immediate. But it does not lack audacity: the Kremlin announced at the beginning of July, through Vladimir Putin, the organization of a competing event. An International University Sports Festival, no less. It will take place from August 19 to 31, 2023 in Ekaterinburg.
The Russian president himself issued the invitations on July 4 during the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). “ I invite the national teams of all your countries to the city of Ekaterinburg, which will host the International University Sports Festival in August 2023.”, launched Vladimir Putin, specifying that the event would also be open to member nations of BRICS, namely Brazil, India, China and South Africa, and to those belonging to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). ).
On display, a program of 14 summer sports, for a total of 193 medal events. And a quartet of athlete ambassadors, all Russian, including international volleyball player Arina Fedorovtseva (photo above).
