Olympic Games Paris 2024: Russian and Belarusian athletes banned to opening ceremony
The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games scheduled for 26 July. The decision on the closing ceremony will be made later.
Against the backdrop of the Russian occupation war that has been going on in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, the IOC had previously announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be eligible to participate only as individual neutral athletes at this year's Games in Paris.
To be eligible, they must meet the eligibility requirements. Teams of Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be considered, and athletes who actively support the war against Ukraine will not be allowed to participate.
"The AINs (individual neutral athletes) will not be part of the delegation team parade during the opening ceremony as they are individual athletes, but they will be given the opportunity to experience the event," James McLeod, IOC Director of Olympic Solidarity and National Olympic Committees Relations, said at a press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"It's the same scenario that was used for the Independent Athletes at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for athletes from the former Yugoslavia."
AINs are individual athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport who meet the requirements for participation in the Games. The Executive Board also approved the flag and anthem for the AIN. The anthem has no lyrics.
Medals won by an AIN athlete will not be displayed in the medal table of the National Olympic Committee. If an AIN athlete wins a medal, the AIN flag will be displayed during the victory ceremony and the AIN anthem will be played.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will officially begin on 26 July and end on 11 August. The Paralympic Games will begin on 28 August and end on 8 September.
Nearly 104,000 people are expected to line the Seine River for the opening ceremony, with another 220,000 lining the elevated roads along the six-kilometre stretch of river where the event will take place.