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Some Russians and Belarusians may compete in Paris 2024 as individual neutral athletes.
CNN
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Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony – the first held along a river – scheduled for July 26, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Committee announced on Tuesday.
“AIN (Individual Neutral Athletes) will not be participating in the mission team parade during the opening ceremony as they are individual athletes, but will be given the opportunity to experience the event,” said James Macleod, Director of Olympic Solidarity and National IOC. Olympic Committee Relations, he said at a press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“This is the same scenario that was used for the independent Olympic participants at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for athletes from the former Yugoslavia.”
A decision on the closing ceremony will be made at a later date.
AINs are athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport who meet the eligibility requirements for the Games. The executive council also approved a flag and anthem for the AIN. The anthem has no lyrics.
Medals won by an AIN athlete will not appear on the National Olympic Committee’s medal table. If an AIN athlete wins a medal, an AIN flag will be flown and the AIN anthem will be played during the victory ceremonies.
03:06 – Source: CNN
IOC: Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in Paris 2024 opening ceremony
Between the ongoing war in Ukrainethe IOC announced in December that Russian and Belarusian athletes will only be allowed to compete as individual neutral athletes at this year’s Paris Games.
To compete, they must meet the eligibility requirements. Teams of Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be considered, while athletes actively supporting the war against Ukraine will also be ineligible.
Nearly 104,000 people are expected to line the Seine for the Opening Ceremony, with another 220,000 on elevated roads along the six-kilometer (nearly four-mile) stretch of river that will host the event, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said earlier. month in an interview with the French television station France 2.
Attendance capacity was cut in half for safety reasons, Darmann said. However, he added that there is no specific terrorist threat targeting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
Earlier this month, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes would not take part in the Opening Ceremony on 28 August.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics officially begin on July 26 and conclude on August 11. The Paralympic Games begin on August 28 and end on September 8.