Retired Canadian Olympians call for Russia, Belarus to be banned from 2024 Paris Games
Global News
The International Olympic Committee is seeking a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete without officially representing their countries amid calls for a ban.
A group of 42 retired Canadian Olympians urged the Canadian Olympic Committee to reject the idea of allowing Russians to participate in next year’s Paris Games unless Russia withdraws from Ukraine.
“We condemn recent public statements issued by the COC supporting the `exploration of a pathway’ for Russians and Belarusians to compete as `neutrals’ in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the Canadians wrote in a statement released Wednesday.
Opening that door, the athletes said, “sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.”
Signing the statement was a who’s-who of Canadian Olympic greats and gold medalists, including Hayley Wickenheiser (hockey), Jenn Heil and Alex Bilodeau (freestyle skiing), Tessa Virtue (skating) and Beckie Scott (cross-country skiing).
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been largely excluded from international competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. The International Olympic Committee seeks a pathway back for those athletes to compete without officially representing their countries, citing human-rights experts who argue the athletes should not be discriminated against solely because of their passports.
“Refusing their participation in international sport is not simply a matter of denying athletes a choice to compete because of their passport, it is a rejection of an unlawful and inhumane war and a recognition of the role international sports plays in geopolitics,” the Canadians wrote.
The COC has walked a fine line in staking out a position. Last month, secretary general David Shoemaker suggested athletes from the banned countries should be made to publicly speak out against the war to gain the neutral status they would need to participate.
Canada’s was also among a group of 35 governments that released a statement last month saying that, without clarity on a workable neutrality model, “we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition.”
