Newly elected International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry has said she opposes banning countries from the Olympics because of war and wants to start talks about a potential return of Russia to the Games.
Coventry said this in an interview with Sky News.
The IOC president says she sees an "inconsistency" in the current approach, which "is singling out Russia while conflicts are taking place on its own continent".
Asked by reporters whether she opposed banning countries from participating in the Olympic Games due to military conflicts, Coventry said: "I am against it, but I think each situation needs to be considered."
“What I would like to do is create a working group that would try to develop some policies and some guidelines that we, as a movement, could use to make decisions when we are involved in conflicts,” she noted.
Coventry, who is originally from Zimbabwe, noted that "we have conflicts in Africa, and theyʼre terrible right now. So, unfortunately, itʼs not going anywhere."
“So how do we protect and support athletes? How do we ensure that all athletes have the opportunity to come to the Olympic Games? Our responsibility is also to make sure that all athletes are safe and that we protect and support them during the Olympic Games. So there is a fine balance. But ultimately, I think it is best for our movement that all athletes are represented,” she concluded.
- In June 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution calling on the IOC to prevent athletes from Belarus and the Russian Federation from participating in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, even under a neutral flag.
- Despite this, the International Olympic Committee allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to the 2024 Games in Paris in neutral status, but imposed some restrictions.
- In the end, 15 Russians and 16 Belarusians went to the Olympics, acting as "individual neutral athletes". They were forbidden to appear with any state symbols. In total, the IOC provided 54 quotas for Russian athletes and 28 for Belarusians to participate in the Olympics in neutral status. Some Russians and Belarusians refused to compete, and some were eliminated after checks.
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