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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced it will allow athletes from Russia to compete as individual neutral athletes (INA) following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022.
The same order was made for Belarus, which supported Russia in the invasion.
This means that athletes from these countries will compete without any mention of their country, such as how Russian and Belarusian tennis players perform at ATP, WTA and Grand Slam tournaments.
This is not the first time that Russia has been punished by the IOC.
More than 100 of its athletes were banned from Rio 2016 after the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) independent panel found there had been “systematic doping”, which has ramifications for the next Olympics.
So what is a neutral athlete?
Individual Neutral Athlete is the name used to refer to athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport who will be competing at this year’s Games in July and August.
These athletes are called by the abbreviation AIN, which comes from the French translation Athlètes Individuels Neutres.
These athletes will be allowed to compete if they meet the eligibility requirements.
At the Games, no country will be mentioned through the participation of athletes, meaning that countries will not compete in team sports.
“Sanctions against those responsible for the war, the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, remain in place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the IOC said in a statement.
“No flag, anthem, colors or any other identification of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in any official venue or at any official function,” the statement continued.
The competition kit for the AINs has not yet been revealed, so it is not clear if it will wear the turquoise colors of the brand new AINs flag, or if they will be wearing basic sportswear.
An anthem, without lyrics, was also commissioned for use at medal ceremonies.
Although AINs are eligible to compete and win Olympic medals, they will not be shown in the nations’ medal table.
The AIN will also be excluded from the parade of delegations at the opening ceremony on the basis that they are individual athletes and not a team, although the IOC said they “will be given the opportunity to experience the event”.
Ramon Spaay, a professor at the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, told 9news.com.au the decision to have neutral athletes was a compromise and a workable solution.
”You don’t deny individual athletes who have worked to excel at an event like this … their right to participate,” Spaaiy said.
About 55 Russian athletes and 28 Belarusians are expected to compete at Paris 2024, according to the IOC.
“These athletes will probably be very wary of making political statements,” Spaai said.
He said that athletes from these countries may not support the invasion, but it is also necessary for the countries to be sanctioned.
“You are robbing them of the opportunity to show the strength of their regime through their achievements on the sports field,” Spaai said.
Teams have previously refused to play against Russian teams, such as at the World Cup, which Spaige said turned into “absolute chaos”.
Allowing Russia to compete could also hurt Ukrainian athletes.
He said the solution isn’t perfect, but it seems to be the best way to handle the situation.
Despite its political problems, Russia has proven to be a major contender at the Games.
The country first competed as the Russian Empire in 1900, 1908 and 1912.
It did not compete again until 1952 as the Soviet Union, and then as the United Team in 1992 after the collapse of the union.
They competed as Russia from 1996 until these games.
As the Soviet Union, they finished first five times, and when competing as Russia, the nation finished in the top four at every Games until Rio 2016.
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