Explained: Who are neutral athletes and what would it mean to compete as one at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The 2021 Tokyo Olympics will see the participation of several neutral athletes. These individuals will be sent by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the acronym under which Russia will participate. A list of 335 athletes has been approved by the committee.

ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov addressed the press on Sunday to inform them of the same. He further stated that

"Our delegation is larger now and we are waiting for the outcome of our basketball team’s performance in qualifiers to finalize the roster."

Russia will be participating under the ROC, as they were found guilty of doping charges. The participation of these athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will be free of any Russian representation.

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Why is Russia banned from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics?

On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) handed Russia a 4-year ban from all international sports. WADA found that data from athletes provided to them by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) had been manipulated by Russian Authorities. It was done to protect athletes involved in its state-sponsored doping scheme.

WADA had given RUSADA a period of 21 days to file an appeal against the ban. Russia appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports [CAS] and the federation stated the decision was flawed.

On December 17, 2020, upon reviewing Russia's appeal, the CAS decided to reduce the penalty to two years. The decision meant that Russia would miss out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The ruling did not completely ban Russia from sporting events and allowed them to participate in the Olympics and other international events. However, for two years the team cannot use the Russian name, flag or anthem, and must present themselves as "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team".

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Who are neutral athletes?

Neutral athletes are those who have cleared doping tests and have been allowed to individually participate at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics under the banner of ROC.

These athletes cannot associate themselves with the Russian flag, anthem, logo or name. They will wear blue, red and white uniforms without the Russian flag.

Music composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky will also accompany the neutral athletes to the Tokyo Olympics. He will perform an alternate composed anthem replacing the prohibited national anthem. The 335 athletes will compete in 20 sports and World Athletics has capped 10 neutral players under ROC.

World Athletics approves the application of 23 Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes.

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 22, 2021

Further responding to questions from the press, the ROC president added:

"We expect the team to improve on its fourth-place medal tally at last summer's Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016."

Meanwhile, the medals that will be won by the neutral athletes will not be added to Russia's tally. Instead, the acronym ROC will be added to the medal table.

Russia is currently 12th on the overall medal tally in Olympic history and would have looked to jump a few places this time around. But now, countries like Japan, Hungary and Australia can expand their leads. It remains to be seen if Russia will slip down by a few places after the event in Japan, though that presently looks unlikely.

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