A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February with the support of Belarus, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that the world national sports federations and competition organizations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions.
Last month, however, IOC Chairman Thomas Bach issued a clarification, and apparently a shift from the Committee’s original position, when he in a speech expressed that sanctions should only be imposed on those who support the war.
Bach opposed, for example, the Wambledon grand slam tournament’s action, unlike the French Open, to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players, and stated that “sanctions must not be imposed on individuals just because of their passport”.
One that is hard to get the words to go together is the reigning Olympic champion in high jump, Marija Lasitskene, who addresses Thomas Bach in an open letter on Instagram.
“I remember very well how you closed your eyes to the fact that the current IOC member Sebastian Coe (President of the International Athletics Federation) did not allow me to participate in the 2016 Olympics, simply because I was born in Russia,” she writes, referring to Russia’s suspension due to state-funded doping, and continues:
“The International Athletics Federation used my Russian passport as a trump card every time they got the chance. And you saw no problem with that. Now they are doing the same thing again, but directly at your request. ”
Because of the war coming Lasitskene to miss the World Athletics Championships in Eugene starting July 15. She highlights an earlier statement by Bach that “everyone who does not support the war must have their rights respected” and at the same time emphasizes how strongly she feels for her Ukrainian competitors, such as the reigning world champion indoor Jaroslava Mahutjich.
“My top colleagues in high jump are Ukrainian girls. I still do not know what to say to them or how to look them in the eye. They and their friends and relatives experience what no human being should ever have to go through. I am sure that none of this should happen and no arguments can make me change my position. “
So why did the IOC strongly oppose allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions when Bach says they should not be sanctioned? According to the IOC President, it is about their own security that “could not be guaranteed due to the deep anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian feelings in so many countries after the invasion”.
Marija Lasitskene gives dock not much for that explanation.
“You said you wanted to shut down Russian athletes out of concern for their safety, but that’s not true. Russian tennis players competing around the world prove it again. “
“Fans do not fall for athletes for their nationality or citizenship but for what they do in competitions. In my opinion, it is high time for the Olympic movement and sport in general to stop the use of national flags and national anthems in all competition contexts. “
In conclusion, the Russian high jumper writes that she does not believe that Bach has the courage or dignity to lift the IOC’s recommendation because it would mean that he admits that he has violated the IOC’s own statutes.
“But I ask you to stop transferring responsibility for the current situation in the sports world from yourself to ‘taking care of Russian athletes’. It does not befit a chairman of the IOC “, she writes.
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