On a cuddly course: the IOC with President Thomas Bach (left) finds it difficult to clearly distance itself from Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Image: Keystone
In Sochi, Russia used the 2014 Winter Games for a demonstration of power, which was later overshadowed by a huge doping scandal
Image: Keystone
Russian bobsleigh pilot Alexander Zubkov (center) was one of the few who had to give back their gold medal from Sochi. The Swiss Beat Hefti (left) and Alex Baumann took their place
Image: Keystone
Without a flag or anthem, but as "Olympic athletes from Russia", Russian athletes were allowed to take part in the 2018, 2021 and 2022 Games after the doping scandal and won much-acclaimed gold in ice hockey in Pyeongchang, among others
Image: Keystone
Just two and a half years ago in Beijing, the Russians were allowed to take part in all functions - under the abbreviation ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). Four days after the closing ceremony, Putin's soldiers marched into Ukraine
Image: Keystone
This year, tennis star Daniil Medvedev will be one of the very few Russian athletes at the start - without a flag, anthem or participation in the opening ceremony as an "individual, neutral athlete"
Image: Keystone
On a cuddly course: the IOC with President Thomas Bach (left) finds it difficult to clearly distance itself from Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Image: Keystone
In Sochi, Russia used the 2014 Winter Games for a demonstration of power, which was later overshadowed by a huge doping scandal
Image: Keystone
Russian bobsleigh pilot Alexander Zubkov (center) was one of the few who had to give back their gold medal from Sochi. The Swiss Beat Hefti (left) and Alex Baumann took their place
Image: Keystone
Without a flag or anthem, but as "Olympic athletes from Russia", Russian athletes were allowed to take part in the 2018, 2021 and 2022 Games after the doping scandal and won much-acclaimed gold in ice hockey in Pyeongchang, among others
Image: Keystone
Just two and a half years ago in Beijing, the Russians were allowed to take part in all functions - under the abbreviation ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). Four days after the closing ceremony, Putin's soldiers marched into Ukraine
Image: Keystone
This year, tennis star Daniil Medvedev will be one of the very few Russian athletes at the start - without a flag, anthem or participation in the opening ceremony as an "individual, neutral athlete"
Image: Keystone
For ten years, the Olympic movement has been struggling with the right way to deal with Russian sport. First doping, then the attack on Ukraine. There are no winners.
23.07.2024, 04:31
SDA
With 20 Olympic victories and a total of 71 medals, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) took fifth place in the medal table three years ago in Tokyo. The fact that the Russians were allowed to compete, albeit without a flag and anthem, was already controversial at the time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is so keen to keep its distance from mundane politics, has found it extremely difficult to deal with Russia for a decade now.
Without consistency, too compliant towards the autocratically ruled superpower, like a leaf in the wind that keeps changing direction - the IOC has never found a line to react appropriately to Russia's state-sponsored doping and its attack on Ukraine.
State-organized doping
In February 2014, the sun was still shining brightly. Russia is hosting the most expensive Winter Games in history in Sochi on the Black Sea. Of course, Russia is the dominator with 30 medals, including 11 gold. Just a few days after the closing ceremony, Russia annexes the Crimean peninsula - only around 500 kilometers from Sochi - and sends weapons to the separatists in the Donbass region. The reason for this is the fall of the Russia-friendly government in Kiev.
More significant for sport, however, is the discovery of a large-scale, state-organized doping programme in Russia. Doping samples were systematically manipulated in the laboratory in Moscow. According to an investigation, the program affected no fewer than 30 sports between 2011 and 2015; it was orchestrated by the FSB secret service, among others.
Russia denies the allegations to this day. However, shortly after the revelations, two former officials died under mysterious circumstances. The former director of the Moscow doping test laboratory, Grigori Rodchenkov, flees to the USA and confirms the program.
Undeterred by this, Russia is once again able to present itself on the world stage as the host of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. At the 2018, 2021 and 2022 Olympic Games, however, the Russians have to compete without an anthem and flag, but do so with some success. Much to the displeasure of many competitors.
Should athletes be collectively punished?
Just four days after the end of the Winter Games in Beijing, Vladimir Putin's army marches into Ukraine - and presents the sporting world with another dilemma. The question is the same as it was after the doping scandal: should individual athletes, who may not be personally guilty of anything, be punished for their nationality? Would it be fair to punish people like high jumper Maria Lassizkene, who has always denounced state doping, or tennis player Daria Kassatkina, who has publicly criticized Putin and is currently unable to return to her country?
In the West, the answer in many circles is yes: Yes. In the rest of the world, where many other conflicts are smouldering, the answer is not so clear. The result is a real patchwork quilt. In some sports, such as athletics, Russian (and often Belarusian) athletes are completely excluded. In others, such as tennis, they are allowed to play under a neutral flag without any major restrictions.
15 Russians and 140 Ukrainians
Only 15 Russian athletes - almost half of them tennis players - will be competing in Paris. A commission should ensure that they have never publicly supported the war in Ukraine and do not belong to any military or state security organization. Russia criticizes these requirements as discriminatory and accuses the IOC of having "slipped into racism and neo-Nazism". In judo and wrestling, all Russians abstain of their own free will.
Ukraine, on the other hand, originally threatened to boycott the Games if Russian athletes were allowed to take part. However, it is now expected to take part with 140 men and women, around ten percent fewer athletes than in Tokyo. For the IOC, however, the war remains an issue on which it cannot win - no matter what it decides.
