Russia may opt out of Paris Olympics, Ukrainian sports minister claims

Ukraine's Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit has stated in an interview that he does not exclude the possibility of the Russians making a "goodwill gesture" by not attending the Paris Olympics next year.

Gutzeit added if the Russians and Belarusians were permitted by the IOC to compete in Paris as neutral athletes and Ukraine boycotted the Games "other countries that have suffered from Russian imperialism at different stages of their history will join this boycott".

The IOC has yet to decide on whether Russians and Belarusians can take part in the Paris Games as neutral competitors.

The spectacle will run from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Following Russia's offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC enforced sporting sanctions on Moscow and its partner, Minsk.

However, earlier this year, the IOC suggested that Russian and Belarusian athletes might have the opportunity to participate as individuals in qualifying events.

This would be under a neutral flag and without an anthem.

The decision provoked howls of protest from both the Ukrainian government and their athletes criticising the IOC for placing the human rights of Russian athletes above theirs.

Consequently, Ukraine prevented its athletes from participating in events alongside Russians and Belarusians.

An exception was made for tennis, which has allowed athletes from these countries to compete individually, a practice that has remained unchanged since the 2022 attack.

However, last month there was a dramatic change of tack from the Ukrainian government permitting their athletes to take part in events where the Russians and Belarusians were competing as "neutral athletes".

'Right side of history'

Gutzeit is well aware of how important the quadrennial spectacle is to athletes having won fencing gold in 1992 in Barcelona in what was a Unified Team made up of 12 of the former Soviet Republics including Russia.

Ironically, one of his teammates from the sabre team that won the gold medal is now his declared opponent.

Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who was part of the same team, currently serves as the head of Russia's Olympic Committee.

"If Russian athletes are at the Olympics, then Russian propagandists will try to turn this celebration of sport into a celebration of propaganda, just as Hitler once did," Gutzeit said referring to Nazi Germany's hosting of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

"I believe that the IOC will not allow the aggressors to do this. "I also do not exclude that the Russians will make a 'goodwill gesture' and say that they will not go."

Gutzeit, who has been in his post since 2020, said he is confident the IOC and sports federations will bar the Russians and Belarusians from the Games.

"The ball is now in the court of the IOC and international sports federations," he said.

"I believe that they will continue to stand on the right side of history and prevent the aggressors from participating in the Games."

Nevertheless, Gutzeit says if they are permitted to compete then Ukraine could still boycott the Games and would be followed by others.

The Baltic states and Poland have been the most vociferous countries in threatening to follow the Ukrainians if they do boycott the Games.

"I do not rule out that if Russians or Belarusians are allowed to participate in the Olympics and we boycott the competition, other countries that have suffered from Russian imperialism at different stages of their history will join this boycott," he said.

As for Podzniakov's remarks the IOC were siding with Ukraine in urging federations to show sensitivity to Ukrainian athletes Gutzeit is dismissive.

"Over the sound of Russian missiles exploding and Russian machine guns firing, it is impossible to hear what individual Russians are saying," he said.

The conflict has taken its toll on sporting infrastructure with a human cost too.

"Stadiums can be rebuilt, infrastructure can be restored, but lives cannot be returned," said Gutzeit.

"The war takes away our best every day. More than 300 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed in this war."

Gutzeit says they will be honoured in a project called 'Angels of Sport' because "we count each one and remember each one".

"These heroic boys and girls were supposed to conquer sports peaks, they were supposed to live, enjoy themselves, become popular," he said.

Gutzeit, 51, said this "war leaves a mark on all Ukrainians".

"Some lost their father; others lost their neighbour or former classmate," he added.

"The mother of Kateryna Tabashnyk (2023 European indoor high jump bronze medallist) was killed in the shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv by Russians.

"Among the ruins of the house, we also found Kateryna's awards, which her mother kept."