Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as individual neutral athletes in the Milan Cortina Games.
Russia has been banned from competing as a country since the 2016 Rio Olympics due to doping and the invasion of Ukraine.
Only 32 neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus competed in the last Summer Olympics in Paris.
It wouldn’t be an Olympics without questions about the participation of Russian athletes.
International Olympic Committe president Kirsty Coventry said Friday that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete as individual neutral athletes in the upcoming Milan Cortina Games, just as they did at last summer’s Paris Olympics. Though the IOC did not say how many athletes they expect in Milan Cortina, it is likely to be a few handfuls, at most.
They will be identified as ‘AIN,’ which is the French translation for Independent Neutral Athlete, and will not have their flag or be allowed to wear their country’s colors. They also will be vetted by Olympic officials to ensure they have not supported Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine and are compliant with all anti-doping regulations.
‘This will be nothing new for all of you,’ Coventry said at a news conference following a meeting of the IOC’s executive board. ‘The executive board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris. So, it’s just a continuation.’
Why can’t Russia, and Belarus, compete at the Olympics?
Russia hasn’t competed as a country since the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It was banned from the Winter Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022, as well as the Tokyo Summer Games, for its doping shenanigans.
But those ‘bans’ were a farce. Russia was still allowed to send teams to those Games, competing as ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia” and athletes from the “Russia Olympic Committee.” They were able to compete in team competitions — Russia won both the men’s and women’s team golds in gymnastics in Tokyo, for example — and they sported warmups and uniforms in Russia’s colors.
Even former IOC president Thomas Bach couldn’t excuse Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however. Especially since it began when the Olympic truce for the Beijing Games was still in effect.
The IOC banned Russia’s Olympic Committee and, initially, all of its athletes from not only the Olympics but all competitions of Olympic sports. Think world championships and World Cups.
The IOC eventually relented and said the individual sport federations could decide for themselves whether to allow Russian athletes to compete as netural individuals. It then said it would allow those athletes in Paris, but only after IOC officials confirmed there was no record of them supporting the invasion of Ukraine or the Russian Army and that they were in compliance with all anti-doping requirements.
Belarus was also banned because of its support for the war.
How many of those independent neutral athletes competed in Paris?
Not many. Out of the roughly 10,500 athletes at last summer’s Paris Olympics, only 32 competed as AINs, 15 from Russia and 17 from Belarus.
The athletes were identified as AINs. In addition to being prohibited from wearing national colors or insignia, they were not allowed at the Opening Ceremony. If they won a medal, a neutral flag was used at the medal ceremony, and gold medalists heard an athem created by the IOC.
How many Russian and Belarussian athletes can be expected in Milan?
Still to be determined.
Some sport federations, like hockey, have continued their bans on athletes from Russia and Belarus. Others, like figure skating, have allowed a limited opportunity to qualify for Milan Cortina. And still others are still weighing a decision on participation.
Once athletes do qualify, the IOC will comb through their social media and public statements to see if they’ve ever expressed support for Russia’s war or been affiliated with the Army. That’s no small thing, given the high number of Russian athletes who are in the Army or receive funding from it.