Paralympic athletes from Russia and Belarus have joined the growing list of war time collateral damage tied to Vladimir Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine. After at first being told they could compete in the Paralympics set to start in Beijing this weekend, the International Paralympic Committee has now decided the 71 Russians and 12 Belarusians cannot, citing an “untenable” situation in the Paralympic Village.
Andrew Parsons, who heads the International Paralympic Committee, was clearly disappointed with the decision, calling the athletes who are now being sent home “victims of your governments’ actions” after a barrage of complaints from other athletes in the competition. “We are very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix,” Parsons said. “However, by no fault of its own the war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many governments are having an influence on our cherished event.”
Parsons cited unnamed threats to the Russian and Belarusian teams who have reportedly faced harsh criticism on the sidelines of what are supposed to be peaceful games. “In the last 12 hours an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful,” he said. “They have told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.”
The decision to allow the athletes to compete had come under great scorn after the rest of the athletic world—from soccer to figure skating—had banned Russian athletes from competing in events out of respect to the Ukrainian athletes.
The Global Athlete Group issued a joint statement with Ukraine’s governing athletic body in which they called the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes at the games “another blow” to all Ukrainians. “They put Russia above the interest of other countries,” Ukrainian Olympic skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said before the reversal, according to the BBC. “Anything less than a full ban is unacceptable. It’s sad and heartbreaking.”
Several other nations, including the U.S. issued statements of regret. “We are disappointed in this outcome as it excuses Russia’s disregard for not only the Olympic truce, but also for the victims of a senseless war,” the Olympic and Paralympic Committee of the United States said in a statement after the Russian athletes were given permission to compete.
The U.K. threatened to boycott the Paralympic games, calling on the Paralympic committee to “urgently reconsider” and “join the rest of the world in condemning this barbaric invasion by banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.
The International Olympic Committee, itself under scrutiny for allowing Russian athletes to compete in the Winter Games without a flag despite blatant doping violations, issued its own statement earlier in the week urging all international sporting bodies to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus. “In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organizers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions,” the IOC said Monday, adding that “many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so because of the attack on their country.”
The move to include athletes in what has become a global punishment for anyone tied to Russia began last week when several soccer teams said they refused to play Russia in World Cup competition. “There is a real tragedy taking place in Ukraine, people are dying, including sportspersons,” Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said last week in announcing Poland would not show up on the pitch if a Russian team was there. “And they expect us to pretend that Russia is not Russia because it plays under a different name? It was an outrageous proposal, I didn’t hesitate for one second.”
Several other entities, including the International Skating Union, banned Russian athletes from competitions, including the upcoming world figure skating championships to be held later this month in Montpellier, France.