July 30, 2024

(Not) Russian Olympians Arrive in Paris


(Not) Russian Olympians Arrive in Paris
Olympic rings hang at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Own work, Wikimedia Commons.

On July 26, the Paris Olympics kicked off, but Russian flags were nowhere to be found. However, fifteen athletes from Russia arrived in the French capital to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)A Meduza report found that nearly 60 sportsmen competing in the 2024 games representing different countries once competed for Russia.

In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified Russia from the games in response to its war on Ukraine. In 2023, the Russian Deputy Vice Minister of Sports Sergey Morozov said that the number of athletes that transferred to other teams "exceeded one hundred."

Russia allowed most athletes to compete for almost any other country. The biggest scandal occurred after fencers Sergey and Violetta Vida attempted to switch to the U.S. team after making anti-war remarks. Both athletes were placed on wanted lists in Russia for abandoning military units. As a result, they were disqualified from competing altogether.

Russians have transferred to 16 countries since 2022. Uzbekistan and Serbia have incorporated the highest number of Russian athletes, with four joining each team. Bahrain, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, and France have each added two Russians to their Olympic cohorts. Twelve sports lost players, with wrestling and judo experiencing the most transfers. Among these athletes is gold-medal rower Anna Prakaten, who initially represented Belarus, then Russia, and is now competing for Uzbekistan.

Russian athletes who have decided to play as AIN include known figures such as tennis players Daniil Medvedev, Yelena Vesnina, and Mirra Andreeva. But many athletes simply withdrew this year, and Russian sports officials have also pressured its teams not to compete in the Paris games. The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Podznyakov, called neutral-status tennis players "a team of foreign agents."

You Might Also Like

A Safe Bet?
  • July 28, 2024

A Safe Bet?

New laws in Russia crack down on gambling.
Fulbright Foreign Agents?
  • June 20, 2024

Fulbright Foreign Agents?

Now that Fulbright has been declared an "undesirable organization," what will happen with its current and former Russian researchers?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955