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The IOC decision to conditionally admit athletes from Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Olympics is no surprise, but it is
So in the end it was only a matter of time before the International Olympic Committee would give the green light for the athletes from Russia and Belarus. Anyone who listened to the IOC General Assembly in Mumbai, India in mid-October quickly realized where the athletes from Russia and Belarus would be heading: next summer to Paris, as neutral individual athletes without anthems and flags.
Permanent crisis for Bach
The will of the IOC leadership under its German President Thomas Bach, who is constantly promoting the Olympic Movement’s peace mission, is too great: the unifying force of the Olympics has always transcended conflict and opened doors for understanding, said Bach. In addition, no athlete should be punished for the actions of his government. He’s not wrong about either.
But the truth is that rarely has a conflict shaken the Olympic peace with such force as the conflict in Ukraine, which has now lasted almost 22 months. But in the end the voices against approval became fewer and fewer.
Even the German Olympic Sports Confederation switched to the IOC course last weekend, which was criticized by the athletes’ representative body “Athleten Deutschland”. And there are also international sports associations that are reluctant to admit athletes from Russia and Belarus, especially athletics under its president Sebastian Coe. This creates a patchwork in international sport with associations that admit athletes from Russia and Belarus and those who still have a few questions: How can it be proven that athletes do not support the war against Ukraine or are linked to the military? Are Russia’s athletes, who have been in disrepute on doping issues for a decade, clean?
Unity and peace or noise and discord?
Doping, criticism of gigantism and corruption, Corona and now the war in Ukraine. Since he took office ten years ago, Thomas Bach’s Olympia has been in a kind of permanent crisis, partly of its own making. It is understandable that the 100% Olympian Thomas Bach wants brilliant games next summer in Paris as the crowning achievement of his term in office or perhaps as an application to continue beyond 2025.
Paris will show whether today’s IOC decision really serves unity and peace in the Olympic family or whether it is not a seed for noise and discord.