In this file photograph taken on September 13, 2017, An inflatable ‘2024’ emblem is seen within the previous harbour space of Marseille, throughout celebrations after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) official announcement that Paris received the 2024 Olympic bid. The Olympic flame will start its journey round France in Marseille forward of the 2024 Paris Olympic video games.
| Photo Credit: AFP
A gaggle of 42 retired Canadian Olympians has urged the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) to reverse its assist for Russian and Belarusian participation at subsequent 12 months’s Paris Games until Russia withdraws from Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) set out a path in January for these athletes, who had been banned from many worldwide competitions after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine final 12 months, to compete with out their flags and anthems.
Many international locations have publicly opposed the IOC’s proposal and Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics so long as Moscow’s troops stay in Ukraine, which Belarus helped facilitate.
The COC has mentioned it helps the IOC’s suggestion that Russia and Belarus ought to be barred from worldwide competitions however added it’s open to exploring how athletes from the 2 international locations may compete as neutrals in Paris.
“We condemn the recent public statements issued by the COC supporting the ‘exploration of a pathway’ for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the athletes wrote in a letter on Wednesday.
“Opening the door to ‘neutral’ Russian and Belarusian participation… sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“No pathway ought to be thought-about for Russian or Belarusian athletes to compete within the Olympic Games till Russia totally withdraws from Ukraine.”
Reuters has reached out to the COC for comment.
Canada was among 35 countries that released a joint statement in February calling on the IOC to clarify the definition of “neutrality” and pledging their support for banning Russians and Belarusians from international competitions.
COC chief executive David Shoemaker told CBC Sports last month athletes from the two counties should publicly speak out against the war to attain the neutral status they would require to compete.
“Recent remarks by COC officers endorsing circumstances for neutrality…are unfounded and out of contact,” the letter added. “For instance, it’s unlawful in Russia to publicly denounce navy actions overseas.
“Refusing their participation in international sport is not simply a matter of denying athletes a chance to compete because of their passport, it is a rejection of an unlawful and inhumane war and a recognition of the role international sport plays in geopolitics.”
Canadian greats and Olympic gold medallists had been among the many signatories, which included ice dancer Tessa Virtue, hockey participant Hayley Wickenheiser, cross-country skier Beckie Scott and freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau.
