Uncommon, but not unprecedented either: on the Russian question, the IOC is following in the footsteps of the IPC. The Olympic movement aligns itself with the positions of its Paralympic counterpart. Almost word for word, but with a delay.
Meeting for two days in Lausanne, the IOC Executive Board once again examined, on Tuesday March 19, the question of the participation of neutral athletes carrying a Russian or Belarusian passport in the Paris 2024 Games. As expected, it has not gone backwards by closing the door to the event. Nor has it relaxed the conditions of neutrality established at the end of last year. But she clarified, going into detail, the rules for their presence in the French capital. They look like sisters to those announced earlier by the IPC for the Paralympic Games.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in the parade of delegations on the Seine, Friday July 26, the most anticipated moment of the opening ceremony. But James McLeod, the director of relations with the national Olympic committees at the IOC, explained it at a press conference: they will still be “ invited to the opening ceremony »Where ? How ? The answers will come later. The delegation of neutral athletes could be offered a discreet place at the arrival of the parade, on the Trocadéro esplanade, where the official guests will be seated.
Another announcement, also in line with the decisions of the IPC: Russian athletes will be able to compete under the name AIN, an acronym designating Neutral Individual Athletes. In case of victory, a short anthem will be played during the podium ceremony. But the medals won on the competition sites will not be counted in the table of nations.
Tuesday March 19, James McLeod also clarified that athletes from the two countries in conflict with Ukraine would not be asked to sign a document condemning the Russian military offensive. They will only have to commit in writing to respect the peace mission of the Olympic Games, but this approach applies to all athletes present, all countries combined.
How many will they be? At the last count, few in number. Kit McConnell, the IOC sports director, took out his scorecard to announce that 12 athletes holding a Russian passport and seven with Belarusian nationality had qualified. The numbers will not stop there. But the IOC estimates the size of the delegation at 36 Russians and 22 Belarusians, with a “ maximum of 55 and 28″.
To be definitively eligible, the AINs having obtained their qualification on the ground will still have to go through a final stage: the examination by the IOC of their “ compliance " under conditions of neutrality. The job will fall to a commission chaired by Nicole Hoevertsz. The IOC vice-president will be assisted by two renowned Olympians, the former Spanish basketball player Pau Gasol, member of the ethics commission, and the former South Korean table tennis player Seung Min Ruy, representative of the athletes' commission.
