Three reasons Russian athletes should be banned from the Olympics
Tom Rogan
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A group of 35 nations is demanding that no Russian or Belarusian athletes be able to compete at next year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris. That’s the right stance. The International Olympic Committee’s rationale for resisting such a ban is laughable.
As the Associated Press reported this week, “the IOC has cited advice from a human rights expert that banning athletes on the basis of their passport would be discrimination.” The IOC wants Russian athletes to compete in an undefined “neutral” capacity.
WHAT CHINA’S BALLOON WAS DOING
That the IOC would pretend to have some moral foundation for its position is fanciful. This is the same organization, after all, that bent over backward to defend China against a fledgling boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics. That boycott was motivated by the not-insignificant concern of the Communist Party’s still active genocide against its Uyghur population. IOC President Thomas Bach also prostrated himself in Beijing’s service over the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Peng was detained in China after accusing a senior Communist Party official of sexual assault. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
Regardless, while they are not responsible for their government’s policy, there are two good reasons why Russian athletes should not be able to compete at the Olympic Games in any capacity.
For a start, Russia must not be allowed to pretend it is a partner to that which the Olympic Games exists to celebrate: the peaceful and fair contest of the world’s best sporting talents. Via its invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin’s government has wreaked havoc on millions of innocent lives and the sacred principle of democratic sovereignty. It would be a sick absurdity were Russian athletes able to compete for medals in Paris as their artillery and missiles continued to rain down on nearby Ukraine. If Russia wants its athletes to compete at the Olympics, it need only withdraw its forces from Ukraine. Instead, Putin is escalating his conflict and associated threats to Europe.
Russia has shown its utter disdain for the Olympic Games in two other ways.
First, it engaged in a comprehensive doping scandal in relation to its athletes at the 2014 Russian Winter Olympics. State-led and resourced, this effort was designed to shred fair competition in service of Russia’s own pride. Moreover, this doping scandal followed in a tradition of Russian and Soviet doping efforts. The IOC should have taken a far more robust stance than it did in 2019 with its four-year ban on Russian-flagged competition. That ban was then absurdly reduced to two years.
The second measure of Russian disdain came via its GRU intelligence service cyberattack on the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. This attack was designed to make North Korea appear to be the culprit. It severely disrupted events surrounding the opening ceremony. The GRU carried out the attack even though Russian athletes were able to compete at the games under the IOC’s banner. It’s just another example of Putin’s disregard for the Olympics and traditionally accepted rules of the road.
Put simply, Russian athletes cannot be allowed to perform in Paris. If the IOC resists such a ban, nations must be willing to join together in a mass boycott.
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