According to Emma Terho, chairperson of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission, the positions of European countries have also been influenced by the requirement in the athletes’ participation conditions.
Samu Saatsi,
Nina Old house
International Olympic Committee (IOC) the government has decidedthat Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024.
The IOC announced its government’s decision on Friday afternoon Finnish time. Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics as individual neutral athletes (Individual Neutral Athletes, INA). Russian or Belarusian teams will not be admitted to the games.
International sports federations play a decisive role in the participation of Russians and Belarusians. According to the IOC, athletes must pass their own sport-specific qualifiers or qualifying competitions of the different sports federations in order to be able to participate in the Paris Games.
Chairman of the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee Emma Terho explains to Urheilu how the IOC’s decision is structured.
– It is based on the fact that there have been many background discussions, in which it has become clear globally that the complete closure of Russian athletes is seen as contrary to the unifying mission of sports, Terho begins.
– The fact that such strict criteria have been obtained for this has clearly shown that the group that could theoretically be there (coming to the Games) is small. It is perhaps something that could have been influenced.
Terho describes that the further you go from Europe, the clearer the position has been on the side of including athletes from Russia and Belarus.
– The positions of the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries and Ukraine against this are also clear. However, the positions of European countries have also been influenced by the requirement in the conditions of participation that athletes or background persons cannot be on the lists of the Russian or Belarusian army or security services.
Ukrainians have responsibility for supervision
So how does the International Olympic Committee make sure that athletes or background persons do not violate these set requirements? For example, how do you find out whether an athlete or background person supports the war in Ukraine?
– It has been specific to the sports association. Quite a few have used the same method, that is, there have been external parties who have individually reviewed the situation of the athletes who may be involved, says Terho.
– Of course, that control has to be done well and doing it accurately is also a requirement. There have been a couple of situations where the athlete has managed to go through. The Ukrainians have been moderately active in reporting if someone hasn’t managed to pass through that screen.
In terms of sports, the biggest responsibility lies with the international sports federations, which determine their qualification methods for the Olympics.
– If there are no Russians in their qualifiers, there is no backdoor to the Games, Terho says.
At the moment, eight Russian athletes and three Belarusians meet the criteria for the Games and can participate in them. In eight sports, Russians and Belarusians have been accepted to international competitions. Terho estimates that the number of species will not increase “massively”.
– I don’t see a chance for that. There are sports, for example swimming, where Russians are allowed to participate in international competitions, but the Russians have seen the conditions so strict that they have not sent athletes.