How Russia isolates itself from Olympia
Just fifteen Russians are participating in the Olympics - not even those should have been able to compete, according to a human rights organization. The war-torn country still feels discriminated against and retaliates in kind. The sporting event is being ignored.
Anyone in Russia wanting to follow the Olympics faces a problem: The biggest sporting event in the world is not being broadcast on Russian television. Forty years after the boycott of the Los Angeles Games, including TV blackout, fifteen athletes and athletes have passed integrity checks and are ready to compete as neutral individual athletes in Paris. However, Russian television is unwilling to show much sport with just a few Russians.
The conditions under which their country is representing itself quasi as a neutral in Paris were described as "humiliating" by Russian wrestlers and judokas. Their few permitted athletes withdrew in protest. Without Russian athletes, the competitions are "incomplete," the tournament is "weakened," and gold is "less valuable," according to the Russian Judo Federation.
Compensation payments in significant amounts have reportedly been made for each athlete who gave up Paris. This was confirmed by the General Director of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Vladimir Senzeljev, to the state news agency Ria Novosti.
Tennis Star is the Most Famous Russian
Most of the fifteen Russian competitors come from tennis, with former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev being the most famous name. For comparison: In 2021 in Tokyo, 330 athletes and athletes represented the ROC, winning 71 medals. At that time, Russia was sanctioned due to widespread doping scandals, and the anthem was not played during victory ceremonies, but there were still many more Russians.
Of the fifteen in Paris who were not allowed to attend the opening ceremony, only one third should have been able to compete, according to the human rights organization Global Rights Compliance. Ten of them had supported the attack on Ukraine - a simple like on social media is enough - or were connected to the military.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022, had its share of scanning sport-qualified Russians according to KO criteria. The Ukrainian contingent includes 140 athletes, with an Ukrainian house in the heart of Paris, national stars like boxing world champion Oleksandr Usyk have announced their visit. Inside and outside the arenas, it's also about sending a message: We are here!
IOC condemns "cynical attempt"
Russia, however, is withdrawing in defiance. In September, the giant country plans to host so-called "Friendship Games" with a handpicked participant list for the IOC, which is considered a "cynical attempt to politicize sport" by the IOC. In June, the Brics Games took place in Kasan, where Russia won 509 (!) medals, of which 266 were gold. It should be noted that there was often only one participant per discipline.
Russia has apparently broken its ties with the Olympic movement for the foreseeable future. However, Russia does not want to disappear completely from the Paris scene, as cyberattacks or deepfakes in the last few months suggest. A prominent example is a doctored documentary titled "Olympics has Fallen," in which AI-generated voice recordings were used to impersonate Hollywood star Tom Cruise.
According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a "large number" of accreditation requests from Russian journalists were rejected - due to espionage suspicions. The Kremlin reacted immediately with indignation. Russia is completely indifferent to these Games.
Despite the International Olympic Committee allowing fifteen Russians to compete as neutral athletes in the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, the Russian Judo Federation and wrestlers have expressed feelings of humiliation and withdrawal, citing the incompleteness and weakness of the tournament without their athletes. The Attack on Ukraine seems to have played a role in the exclusion of ten Russian athletes, according to a human rights organization. The International Olympic Committee has condemned Russia's planned "Friendship Games" as a "cynical attempt to politicize sport."
