On Friday in the building of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) An Olympic meeting was held at which the results of the organization’s work in the past year were summed up and, of course, current topics were discussed, the main one among which was the participation of Russian athletes who received neutral status in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But only a few of them received clear answers.
After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the performance of Russian athletes at the 2024 Games a green light, which is more like a red one, and formulated criteria according to which, if they are followed thoroughly, the athlete will have to abandon his country, a logical question arose – what should the athletes themselves do?
The President of Russia said the day before: “I always said that athletes have been training for years, they need to be given the opportunity to perform at major competitions, including the Olympic Games, everyone knows our flag and our athletes… But they can come up with anything if the goal is cut off our leaders and show that Russian sport is not developing, but is dying, then it is necessary for the Ministry of Sports and the Russian Olympic Committee to analyze and make an informed decision,” the head of state added.
Yes, and it is clear that, on the one hand, I want to compete at the Olympics, but on the other, it turns out that if this is done, then in accordance with the admission criteria for neutral athletes, a career in one’s home country can be considered over. Or maybe this is a too free interpretation of the six-page IOC document, which prohibits any association with the Russian flag, anthem and organizations, and in fact everything is not so scary?
At the very beginning of the Olympic meeting, it became clear that the Russian sports leadership did not yet know exactly how to interpret this document. “Concerning participation in the Olympic Games, yesterday the President of Russia clearly formulated his position – the ROC and I will study the regulations that the IOC will formulate and make a decision in the interests of the athletes and, of course, our great country, which is the guarantor of the development of international sports,” he said welcoming speech by Russian Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin.
But, generally speaking, the IOC has already formulated the main provisions. And specific questions arose about them. For example, can an athlete who has achieved neutral status receive government funding? Does he have the right to participate in domestic Russian tournaments – national championships and cups? What about the Friendship Games – a competition that in 2024, along with the BRICS Games, should become the main international competition, where our athletes will be able to compete under their own flag?
ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov only gave an unequivocal answer to the first question. “According to IOC recommendations, neutral athletes must renounce not only the flag and anthem, but also their national Olympic committee. The IOC decision, which we consider illegitimate, states that any athlete who receives support from the ROC will violate the recommendations. According to For this reason, among the athletes who receive support from the ROC, there are no neutralized athletes. The ROC has completely stopped funding neutralized athletes,” said the head of the ROC.
This refers to the payments that the ROC decided to make back in the summer of this year to athletes who previously competed at the Olympic Games and continue their careers – Olympic gold medalists will receive 500 thousand rubles each, 350 thousand – silver medalists, 250 thousand – bronze medalists, 150 thousand each – participants of the Games. The athletes receive the rest of the funding through the TsSP, but, in all likelihood, Pozdnyakov had in mind other payments that go through the ROC. And here we must understand that the initiator is not the Russian side – but the IOC.
As for the participation of neutral athletes in domestic Russian competitions, Pozdnyakov referred to an explanation from the legal department of the ROC. “Any athlete who takes part in national-level competitions held by a national federation or where the co-organizer of the competition is the national Olympic committee automatically violates this rule and may be deprived of justly won awards,” Pozdnyakov said. “At any time this the situation can be used against the athlete.”
The President of the ROC spoke in exactly the same way regarding the Friendship Games. “From my point of view, an athlete who will take part in the Olympic Games absolutely cannot participate in the Friendship Games. Otherwise, his result at the Olympics will be canceled,” Pozdnyakov noted.
However, the important thing is that from those who want to compete at the Olympic Games, OCD does not refuse and is ready to explain to them all the details of their potential participation. Pozdnyakov said this in his report. As with many other things, the main thing, perhaps, is the hope that sooner or later the current bacchanalia in relation to Russian sports will stop.
The IOC could answer all these questions. But for now, this organization prefers to respond to requests with references to already published documents. And according to them, at the moment it turns out that an athlete who has chosen to participate in the Olympic Games as a goal will still have to come to terms with the fact that he will no longer perform in his country. Unless, of course, he decides to go to Paris, win there, return and become a Russian athlete again. Yes, the IOC will most likely erase him from the Olympic chronicle, but the medal will still remain – as will the confidence that he endured an unequal struggle against injustice.
And, finally, to the question asked at the briefing after the Olympic meeting – What advice Pozdnyakov would give to an athlete, whether to participate in the Games or not, the ROC president did not answer. He began to explain that the ROC has been temporarily deprived of the status of the Russian National Olympic Committee, which means that at the moment the ROC cannot recommend or not recommend competing at the Olympics until international arbitration makes a decision on the status of the ROC. But in fact, the answer could be simpler: everyone chooses their own path.
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