Why will Russian athletes not be present at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony? All about the nation's participation in the quadrennial event
Russian athletes will not be present during the official opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The opening parade is slated to take place on the River Seine where about 100 boats will be carrying approximately 10,500 athletes marking the beginning of the marquee event.
Russian athletes will be competing in the upcoming Paris Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs). Along with Russians, athletes with Belarusian passports have been confirmed to be eligible to compete in Paris as Neutral athletes according to the official notice released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 20 July, 2024.
IOC director James McLeod revealed in an official IOC board meeting communication that Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) will not be allowed to participate in the majestic opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics as they won't be representing any country. However, they will be allowed to witness the event.
The official statement reads:
"AINs will not participate in the parade of delegations (teams) during the Opening Ceremony, since they are individual athletes. But an opportunity will be provided for them to experience the event. This is the same scenario that was used for the Independent Olympic Participants at the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 (from the former Yugoslavia)."
The AINs qualified through the existing qualification criteria for all sports set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) along with eligibility requirements set by the International Federations (IFs). The Individual Neutral Athletes competing in the Paris Olympics were subject to strict eligibility conditions set by the committee.
Two major points of the eligibility conditions were:
1) Any form of identification like the flag, anthem or colors of Russia or Belarus will not be displayed in any venue or official function of the Olympic Games in Paris.
2) Russian or Belarusian government officials will not be invited or officially recognized at the Paris Olympic Games.
A decision on the participation of AINs during the closing ceremony of the Olympics is yet to be taken.
Russian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics
15 Russian athletes will be participating in the upcoming Paris Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs). Most participating athletes are tennis players with a total of seven players.
Here is the list of the participating Russian athletes:
Tennis: Daniil Medvedev, Pavel Kotov, Ekaterina Aleksandrova, Roman Safiullin, Diana Shnaider, Mirra Andreeva and Elena Vesnina
Cycling - road: Tamara Dronova, Gleb Syritsa and Alena Ivanchenko
Canoe/kayak: Aleksei Korovashkov, Olesia Romasenko and Zakhar Petrov
Swimming: Evgenii Somov
Gymnastics - trampoline: Anzhela Bladtceva