Money paid, other competitions
How Russia is isolating itself from the Olympics
23.07.2024, 18:38
Only 15 Russians are taking part in the Olympic Games – not even they should actually be allowed to compete, according to a human rights organization. The war-mongering country still feels discriminated against and is striking back. The sporting event is being ignored.
Anyone who wants to watch the Olympic Games in Russia has a problem: the world’s biggest sporting event is not being shown on television in the second most successful nation in Olympic history. 40 years after the boycott of the Los Angeles Games, including a TV blackout, 15 athletes have passed the integrity checks and are ready to compete in Paris as neutral individual athletes – but Russian television is not willing to show a lot of sport with few Russians. The sting runs deep, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its long-time courted partner Russia have fallen out.
The Russian wrestlers and judoka said the conditions under which their country is represented in Paris as a neutral country are “humiliating” and their few eligible athletes decided not to take part in protest. Without Russian athletes, the competitions would be “incomplete”, the tournament would be “weakened” and gold would be worth less, calculated the Russian Judo Federation.
Compensation payments of a significant amount have apparently been made for every athlete who foregoes Paris. This was what the General Director of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Vladimir Sengleev, told the state news agency Ria Novosti.
Tennis star is the most famous Russian
Most of the 15 Russian starters come from tennis, the biggest name being former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev. For comparison: in 2021 in Tokyo, 330 athletes represented the ROC, winning 71 medals. At that time, Russia was heavily sanctioned for doping offenses, and the anthem was not played at award ceremonies, but the Russians could at least be recognized by the colors of their sportswear – and there were significantly more of them.
Of the 15 in Paris who are not allowed to take part in the opening ceremony, only a third should actually be allowed to start, according to the human rights organization Global Rights Compliance. Ten of them supported the war of aggression against Ukraine – a like on social media can be enough for that – or are connected to the military.
Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia in February 2022, played its part in scanning the Russians who were qualified in terms of sports according to knockout criteria. The invaded country’s squad includes 140 athletes, there is a Ukrainian house in the center of Paris, and national greats such as boxing world champion Alexander Usyk have announced their visit. In and outside the arenas, it is also about sending a signal: We are here!
IOC condemns “cynical attempt”
Russia, on the other hand, is withdrawing in defiance. In September, the giant empire wants to host so-called “friendly games” with a hand-picked list of participants. The IOC sees this as a “cynical attempt to politicize sport.” In June, the BRICS Games took place in Kazan, where Russia won 509 (!) medals, 266 of them gold. It is important to note that in some cases there was only one starter per discipline.
Vladimir Putin’s empire has apparently broken with the Olympic movement for the foreseeable future. But Russia does not want to disappear from the scene in Paris either, as cyberattacks and deepfakes in recent months have suggested. A prominent example is a fake documentary entitled “Olympics has Fallen,” in which AI-generated sound recordings were used to impersonate Hollywood star Tom Cruise.
According to France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, a “large number” of accreditation requests from journalists from Russia were rejected – due to suspicion of espionage. The Kremlin immediately reacted with outrage. Russia is not completely indifferent to these games.