” On time. » Deferring rather than deciding is the option chosen by Thomas Bach. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was perhaps hoping for a little respite. It is that the question of a participation of the Russians and Belorussians at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) could not be more sensitive.
Missed. By affirming, on March 28, its desire to see the sports federations once again welcome the athletes of these two countries in international competitions, while postponing the decision concerning the Games “at an appropriate date”, Mr. Bach failed to satisfy either party. And even caused a certain cacophony.
Wind up against the IOC’s position, Kiev decreed, at the end of March, that none of its representatives would line up in the qualifying events for which Russians and Belarusians would be entered, making the threat of see the Paris Games take place without his delegation. A very sad symbol for an edition planned in the “homeland of human rights”.
The Russians are indignant at the recommendations aimed at guaranteeing the neutrality of their compatriots. A disguised way, they claim, to prevent them from taking part in tournaments.
The international federations, to which the choice of whether or not to validate this return has been returned, are advancing, for their part, in dispersed order. Horse riding and athletics extended the ban. Table tennis and taekwondo recorded the reinstatement. Just like fencing, which was the first to make such a decision – its selection window for the Games opened on April 3.
She had probably not measured all the consequences. Since then, the environment has been torn apart: hundreds of shooters have denounced his position; several European countries have given up hosting World Cup stages counting for the qualifications for the Olympic Games.
“Step back won’t make us jump better”
Cited by Thomas Bach as a virtuous example of the cohabitation between Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians, tennis – where no exclusion had been decided in 2022 – also sees, its varnish is cracking.
The atmosphere in the changing rooms is “rather tense”, reported to the BBC, the Polish Iga Swiatek. There was one “lack of leadership” from the WTA and the ATP, the organizations governing the professional circuits, after the start of the war, explains the world number 1. So much so that his sport found itself in a “chaotic situation”.
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