Why are Russian gymnasts refusing to participate at the 2024 Olympics? Everything you need to know about the country's protest against the IOC

Russian gymnasts will not be competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics as they refuse to appear at the Games under a neutral flag as per the rules set by the International Olympic Committee.

Russia was originally banned from international competitions by the FIG, the governing body of the sport, in March 2022, over the country’s aggression against Ukraine. However, in November 2023, the federation ruled that athletes from the country would be allowed to participate in tournaments under a neutral flag, in order to make it possible for them to qualify for the Paris games.

However, Russian gymnasts have refused to meet the FIG’s conditions of participating under a neutral flag. It is worth noting that athletes from Russia appeared as neutral athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, due to an ongoing doping scandal in the country at that time.

The nation's gymnastics head coach, Valentyna Rodionenko, said in an interview with Match TV that Russian gymnasts participating in the Games as neutral athletes would be humiliating and a betrayal of their country.

"We are deliberately not participating in the Olympics. We refuse to participate as neutral athletes. Our guys are sacrificing their lives in the war against Ukraine, and for the sake of the possibility of winning a medal, we agree to compete under such humiliating conditions? This is a real betrayal, we are not traitors,"m Rodionenko said.

She went on to add that the decision to boycott the games was unanimous, and none of her students was willing to compete as a neutral athlete.

“None of the gymnasts said that they would go to the Olympics under such conditions. There was no such intention. Everyone unanimously decided not to act as neutral athletes. We have complete clarity on this issue," she said.

Russian gymnasts won 8 medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Nikita Nagornyy with his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics

Russian gymnasts were represented at the Tokyo Olympic Games under the “Russian Olympic Committee,” after the World Anti-Doping Agency reported that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had manipulated data in order to protect athletes who had been engaging in substance abuse.

With the WADA’s finding, Russian gymnasts participated under the ROC and finished second in the sports medal tally. The neutral athletes won gold in both the men's and women's team events, and even made multiple individual podium appearances.

Nikita Nagornyy won bronze in the men's all-around and horizontal bars, while his teammate Denis Ablyazin took silver in the vault. In the women's events, Angelina Melnikova won bronze in the all-around, and shared the third-place with Mai Murakami in the floor exercise. ROC’s Anastasia Ilyankova won silver on the uneven bars.