Paris Olympics 2024: Host city's mayor claims Russian, Belarusian athletes aren't welcome

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo recently claimed that Russian and Belarusian athletes “are not welcome” at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. On Saturday, March 30, the 64-year-old made the bold statement during her recent trip to Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv.

Earlier this year, the IOC banned the participation of Russia and Belarus ahead of the Paris Olympics due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Instead, the committee permitted its athletes to enroll themselves under a neutral flag. Moreover, AIN athletes, known as Individual Neutral Athletes, will be competing without their national identity of flag, anthem, or colors.

Recently, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, visited a training center in Ukraine where she showed solidarity with the country by making a bold statement on Russia and Belarus’s participation in the Olympics. A video shared by United News, a Ukrainian YouTube channel, showed Hidalgo saying:

“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris and to tell Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very strongly.”

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IOC bans Russia and Belarus from attending the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024

Recently, the IOC issued a statement debarring the Russian and Belarusian athletes from attending the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024. The qualifying athletes who will be competing under a neutral flag will not be representing their countries in the ceremony at the Seine River.

The IOC mentioned in its official statement:

“AINs will not participate in the parade of delegations (teams) during the Opening Ceremony, since they are individual athletes."

However, the committee also added that it will provide an 'opportunity' for the athletes to witness the opening event:

"Since they are individual athletes, but an opportunity will be provided to them to experience the event."

Moreover, according to the IOC, the committee is expecting the participation of 36 Russian and 22 Belarusian athletes in the upcoming championships, scheduled from July 26 to August 11.

In February, 35 nations opposed the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral athletes in the Paris Olympics. Countries demanded the committee clarify the definition of ‘neutral athletes.’

To this, the IOC shared guidelines for neutral athletes on its official website, mentioning:

"The IOC appreciates the constructive questions with regard to the definition of the neutrality of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport, while noting that the explicit human rights concerns expressed by two Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council have not been addressed in the statement."

The committee also expressed that it stood in solidarity with Ukrainian athletes. It added that it has to respect the human rights of all athletes.