Russian athletes make their way to the Olympics

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been given a small chance to reach Paris and some of them have to take advantage of it. The International Olympic Committee authorized 22 Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes to participate under a neutral flag at the Olympic Games in Paris. The IOC published a first list of Russian and Belarusian athletes, from four disciplines (wrestling, weightlifting, cycling, trampoline), who agreed to participate in the Paris Olympic Games under a neutral flag. Also then, the international Olympic body also indicated the fact that it had received refusals from two Russian athletes - among them the cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov - and five Belarusians. Meanwhile, 18 other athletes from the two countries have confirmed their presence. The Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev, the 5th and 6th ATP places, were invited to the men's Olympic tennis tournament, and the Belarusians Arina Sabalenka (No. 3 WTA) and Victoria Azarenka (No. 16) and Russian Daria Kasatkina were invited to the women's tournament (no. 14) and Liudmila Samsonova (no. 15).

In order to be invited to the Olympic Games, the "individual neutral athletes" had to overcome both the obstacle of qualifications and a double check, by the international federations and then the IOC, of the fact that they did not actively support the war in Ukraine. In the meantime, the IOC must update the lists of Russian and Belarusian athletes who will participate in Paris under the neutral flag. Certain international federations, such as the athletics one, completely excluded Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions, and the International Swimming Federation allowed them access so late that it is hard to believe that Russian and Belarusian swimmers will be able to participate. Russia eventually gave up boycotting the Paris Games, but the women's gymnastics team refused to participate, while rowing and judo are considering sending representatives to Paris.

On the other hand, a number of 313 police officers and members of the Spanish Civil Guard will be deployed in Paris to participate in security operations during the Olympic Games (July 26 - August 11), the Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced. The French authorities were the ones who requested these reinforcements to prepare the security system for the sporting event, the Spanish ministry stated in a press release. In total, 171 officers from the national police and 142 civil guards will go to the French capital, having among them experts in urban security, demining and even canine units. The contingent will also remain for the Paralympic Games, from August 28 to September 8. French authorities plan to mobilize around 45,000 police and gendarmes, as well as 18,000 soldiers during the Olympics, to which will be added around 20,000 private security agents, according to the organizing committee.