Athletes’ resistance to the Ukrainian government’s intended boycott of international competitions in which Russian athletes compete has gained a prominent advocate: Olga Saladukha, a two-time Olympic participant and member of the Ukrainian parliament, supports the demand that the government to reconsider their stance on the issue.
The triple jump bronze medalist at the London 2012 Olympics described the situation as “difficult” but reiterated that “everything we can” is done in the Ukrainian parliament to allow Ukrainian athletes to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics. “I think Ukrainian athletes should and must take part in the Olympic Games,” Saladukha said at the Peace and Freedom conference in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. “They have to compete, they have to demonstrate our strength and power.”
Because of the Russian war of aggression, the Ukrainian government issued a decree in April that bans the country’s athletes from participating in competitions in which Russians and Belarusians also start. This prevents Ukrainian athletes from qualifying for the Olympic Games in Paris in some sports. Saladukha said the Ukrainian parliament was appealing to Europe’s solidarity to continue banning Russian athletes from international competitions.
Appeals to IOC
According to Saladukha, this should also be promoted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “Leaders of our sports organizations say they are working internationally to support people like Thomas Bach [IOC-Präsident, Anm. d. Red.] to persuade,” said Saladukha. “But as we can see, Bach’s decisions and his rhetoric change every day.”
Saladukha’s statements are similar to those of Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych, who made headlines with his “No War in Ukraine” sign at the Beijing Winter Olympics last year and subsequently founded his own aid organization. He also spoke out against the government’s intended boycott. “The Olympic Games and international sport offer a very large media platform,” Heraskevych told DW. This platform “should not be left to the Russian and Belarusian narratives”.
Vladyslav Heraskevych at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Political interference in sport
With its decree, the Ukrainian government responded to the IOC’s recommendation for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic stage. According to the IOC, athletes from both countries should be allowed to compete as so-called “neutral athletes” – without a national flag, anthem or other national identification features.
In its justification, the IOC referred to human rights experts from the United Nations and their argument that a blanket ban based on nationality would be discriminatory. The IOC also criticized Ukraine for political interference. It is “not up to governments to decide which athletes can compete in which international competitions.”
Ukrainian refugees protested in Essen in March against the IOC decision and President Bach
For Olga Saladukha, however, sport and politics are inextricably linked. “This war is terrible, thousands of people are dying and we are talking about a war criminal [gemeint ist Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin, Anm. d. Red.]which threatens the world with nuclear weapons,” said the parliamentarian. “We know that athletes in Russia are part of the propaganda agenda.”
Anatol Kotau, exiled former secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus, spoke of “shocking hypocrisy”: “It is unacceptable that the IOC accuses Ukraine of interfering in sport.” Sport in Russia and Belarus is fundamentally shaped by state interests, said Kotau at the conference in Tallinn.
“Bach allows terrorists to participate”
While some sports federations maintain the exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus, other federations follow the IOC recommendation – for example in fencing, judo and weightlifting. The Ukrainian Judo Federation boycotted the World Championships, which just ended in Qatar’s capital Doha, on the grounds that the majority of the participants from Russia were former “active soldiers”.
Many sports organizations and clubs in Russia have ties to the military and the Ministry of Defense. An example of this is the prominent army club CSKA Moscow. According to the Associated Press news agency, five of the 18 athletes from Russia registered for the Judo World Championships were CSKA members.
Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid
Two-time world champion Daria Bilodid of Ukraine wonders how that can be allowed. “That’s nonsense, isn’t it?” Wrote the judoka on Instagram. “I find it unacceptable to allow military personnel of a terrorist country who kill Ukrainians every day to compete in international competitions. It is completely against the values of sport.”
With its recommendation, the IOC has put the decision on qualification for Paris 2024 in the hands of the respective sports. According to the IOC, a decision about the games themselves has not yet been made. Former Ukrainian track and field athlete Nataliya Dobrynska, Olympic champion in the heptathlon at the Beijing 2008 Games, told the Tallinn conference that Bach and the IOC were not sticking to their own principles: “The Olympic Games should ensure that there is unity in the world . But if you look at the war in Russia, how can you speak of unity?”
The article has been adapted from English.