Gymnastics Coaching.com

Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev and Abdulrashid Sadulayev are 3 of the eight athletes already named as eligible by IOC.

Attending a war rally with Putin did not disqualify.

Article from September 19, 2023:

Three Olympic champions from Russia were cleared to compete at the world wrestling championships this week because they were judged to have been pressured to appear at a pro-war rally in Moscow last year.

The United World Wrestling governing body explained Tuesday why Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev and Abdulrashid Sadulayev were among the Russian wrestlers who passed vetting to compete as neutral athletes in Belgrade, Serbia.

All three won Olympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games held in 2021 and were paraded on stage at a flag-waving rally at Luzhniki Stadium in March 2022. It was attended by President Vladimir Putin three weeks after he ordered the military invasion of Ukraine.

The athletes’ presence there seemed likely to bar their return to competition with neutral status ahead of the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee advised the governing bodies of each individual sport in March to exclude those who publicly supported the war.

However, a vetting process for the three wrestlers concluded “their participation in certain events is not (of) their own will,” United World Wrestling said in a statement.

The governing body’s vetting panel did bar 30 athletes, coaches and support staff from Russia and its military ally Belarus from coming to the Sept. 16-24 championships. …

Wrestling body says why Russian champions competed at worlds despite pro-war rally

After dragging their feet for as long as possible, the IOC made it official.

Still, it’s unlikely any in Gymnastics sports will be able to qualify. Valentina Rodionenko said the coaches of the National Team had decided they didn’t want to try for Paris under these restrictions.

“The executive board of the IOC has decided that individual neutral athletes (AINs) who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in accordance with the conditions outlined,” the Olympic body said on Friday. …

… six “strict eligibility conditions” for AINs at Paris 2024 reflecting the same conditions under which they have qualified.

It said among the 4,600 athletes who have so far qualified for the Games, only 11 were AINs – eight with a Russian passport, three with a Belarusian passport.

BBC – Paris 2024 Olympics: Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete as neutrals

The conditions for their participation are as follows:

• Qualified athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will be entered as, and compete as AINs.
• Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will not be considered.
• Athletes and support personnel who actively support the war will not be eligible to be entered or to compete.
• Athletes and support personnel contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies will not be eligible to be entered or to compete.
• Any AIN, like all other participating athletes, must meet all anti-doping requirements.
• The sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments remain in place, including: No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications of Russia or Belarus will be displayed in any official venue or function at Paris 2024, and no Russian or Belarusian government or state officials will be invited or accredited.

Dictator Putin invaded Ukraine

With no end in sight after more than 21 months of war, the number of people killed in the hundreds of thousands, intelligence estimates suggest.

It’s a mistake to allow any Russian athletes to compete Paris, in my opinion.