The list goes on. But it remains short and still seriously lacks thickness. Less than a month before the opening of the Paris 2024 Games, and three weeks before that of the athletes' village, the IOC published on Thursday June 27 a new version – the second – of its selection of neutral individual athletes (AIN) carrying a Russian or Belarusian passport.
In its first version, unveiled on Saturday June 15, the contingent included 14 Russians and 11 Belarusians. Twenty-five future AINs, then. A list of guests who have all passed the examination of their files by the IOC commission of experts. But, to clarify, the IOC did not know which of them would respond favorably to the invitation and make the trip to Paris, and which would decline.
The second list published by the IOC expands the numbers. It was expected. It also specifies the position of Russian and Belarusian athletes invited to the Paris 2024 Games.
Less than 30 days before the opening, the delegation of neutral athletes now includes 39 names: 22 Russians and 17 Belarusians. To the sports appearing in the first list – cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, trampoline – the IOC added three: rowing, shooting and tennis.
In rowing, neutral rowers risk going very unnoticed on the water of Vaires-sur-Marne. The IOC did not accept any Russians. It invited two Belarusians, a man and a woman, both competing in the single scull event. Skinny.
Very comparable shooting situation. The IOC explains that Russia had not obtained any qualifying places. Belarus, on the other hand, had won three. But there will only be two Belarusian shooters at the Paris 2024 Games. Two women: Darya Chuprys and Aliaksandra Piatrova.
In tennis, on the other hand, neutrality promises to be more visible on the courts of Roland-Garros. No less than eight Russians were declared eligible, including two serious candidates for the podium in men's singles: Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, current world numbers 5 and 6. On the Belarusian side, the body selected two players, two stars of the circuit: Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka. Heavy. But the first of the two, world number 16, has already announced her decision to give up the Olympic Games.
For the others, you will have to wait. But it already seems certain that not all Russian players invited by the IOC will make the trip to Paris. The president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, also a member of the Olympic body, announced that three of them, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Liudmila Samsonova, will not compete in the Olympic Games.
That's it for the guests. The refusals now. At this stage, they remain in the minority. On the Russian side, cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov declined the invitation. He cited physical and calendar-related reasons, being careful not to venture into political territory. Wrestler Veronika Chumikova also announced that she would not be coming. Five Belarusians also refused the IOC invitation. They are all wrestlers.
In the camp opposite, 18 athletes eligible for neutrality status have confirmed their presence: three cyclists, three trampoline specialists, two weightlifters and ten wrestlers. The two Belarusian rowers and two shooters have not yet made their decision known. Normal: they have just been retained.
How many will there be when the entry lists close? Difficult to say with precision. But with the absence of team sports and team events, by decision of the IOC, and of athletics by that of World Athletics, it would be surprising if the delegation of neutral athletes exceeded around fifty names, Russians and Belarusians combined.
To the Tokyo 2020 Games, the Russian Olympic Committee sent 330 athletes. Belarus had entered 104 under its own colors.
