Russia’s Limited Presence At Paris 2024 Is ‘A Victory,’ Says Ukraine Olympics Chief

PARIS (AP) — The caput of Ukraine’s Olympic delegation touted nan constricted numbers of Russian athletes astatine nan Paris Olympics — who must compete arsenic neutrals — arsenic warfare betwixt nan 2 countries grinds connected for a 3rd year.

Vadym Guttsait told The Associated Press successful an question and reply that Ukraine began nan effort to trim nan number of Russian and Belarusian athletes aft the Kremlin’s forces invaded Ukraine successful 2022 and person kept pressing it astir until nan commencement of nan Games successful Paris. Belarus is simply a cardinal state of Moscow’s.

“During nan war, they person nary spot successful nan world world,” Guttsait said. “Because each time our people, women and children are killed. Every time they explosive us, and nan missiles are flying complete our country.”

Only 15 Russian athletes will beryllium competing successful nan Games and they won’t officially beryllium representing Russia. Russia and neighboring Belarus were banned from sending nationalist teams because of nan warfare successful Ukraine, truthful athletes approved to compete from those countries will do truthful nether neutral status, including tennis prima Daniil Medvedev, who won nan US Open successful 2021.

“It’s nothing,” Guttsait said astir Russia’s beingness astatine nan 2024 Olympics. “It’s already a victory.”

In Russia, nan Olympics are shown successful a antagonistic light aliases not astatine each successful nan media. Newspapers’ main attack has been to play up nan negative, penning astir crime successful Paris and nan inconvenience of barricades placed passim nan city. Russia’s authorities TV channels aren’t broadcasting immoderate of nan events.

Russia has refused to nonstop athletes successful immoderate sports, including wrestling and judo. The Russian wrestling federation objected to nan International Olympic Committee’s prime of which wrestlers to invite, saying nan bouts would beryllium incomplete without Russian athletes and that “any sane personification understands that nan position of nan Olympic Games arsenic nan astir important sporting arena is being questioned.”

Russian athletes’ showing successful Paris is simply a large alteration from nan Tokyo Games held successful 2021, wherever Russia had much than 300 athletes participating nether nan rebranded squad sanction ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) because of a doping scandal. They won 71 medals.

In December 2022, Guttsait started noticing signals that Russian and Belarusian athletes mightiness beryllium allowed to participate successful nan Paris Games.

Ukrainian authorities complained that it was unacceptable for Russian athletes to compete astatine 1 of nan world’s astir prestigious sports events, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Guttsait to forestall it.

Guttsait held meetings pinch representatives of nationalist Olympic committees, wrote letters and took portion successful Ukraine’s International Summit of Sports Ministers.

“It was painstaking activity wherever each time we received feedback from those who either supported america aliases not,” he said.

Ukraine announced it would boycott nan 2024 Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes competed nether a neutral flag. This determination received wide world attraction amid nan war, and that was portion of Ukraine’s strategy, Guttsait said.

For nan Paris Games, nan International Olympic Committee group circumstantial criteria for Russian athletes to qualify, including whether they publically supported Russia’s war.

The war besides has affected Ukraine’s Olympic participation, which squad was one of nan sporting powerhouses that emerged from nan illness of nan Soviet Union. The state will beryllium represented by its smallest delegation successful nan history of nan Summer Games — 140 athletes successful 26 sports — that Guttsait attributes to nan war.

While successful Paris, Guttsait attends competitions each time to support nan athletes, donning a panama chapeau pinch a Ukrainian overgarment of arms and Olympic rings.

But Ukrainians cannot time off nan warfare acquisition astatine home, and possibly that made Friday’s opening ceremonial on nan Seine River moreover much memorable.

“When we were sailing dressed successful yellowish and bluish colors, pinch our flag. ... It was rewarding, and that group stood up and greeted america pinch applause,” he recalled. “Our ngo astatine nan Olympics is to punctual nan world that Ukraine survived.”