How Russian athletes will compete at the Paris Olympics and why that puts them on Vladimir Putin's 'hate list'

When Russian athletes stood on the Olympic podium in 2021 to receive their medals, it was not the hymn-like State Anthem of the Russian Federation that played over the loud speakers, but something more lyrical.

Banned from using their own national anthem, or their country’s flag, the successes of the 330 sportsmen and women represented by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the Tokyo Olympics were instead serenaded by Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1.

The nation was banned from competing due to a doping scandal within Russia, which saw the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) issue a four-year ban on Russian athletes attending international sports events in 2019. That ban has now expired.

Russian athletes, competing as the neutral Russian Olympic Committee, celebrate winning the gold medal during the podium ceremony of the artistic gymnastics women's team final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, three years on and the Russian team, alongside their Belarusian counterparts, will also be forced to compete at the Paris Olympics starting from Friday as neutral athletes, but this time due to their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

At the Games, any victors among a vastly-reduced Russian and Belarusian contingent will hear only an independent piece of music created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with no lyrics. Meanwhile, neutral athletes will not march in the opening ceremony and will have no flagbearer at the closing ceremony.

The ROC was suspended indefinitely last year by the IOC after it recognised regional organisations from four Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia, meaning any competitors from the two nations have to compete as “individual neutral athletes”.

Professor Luke March, personal chair of post-Soviet and comparative politics at the University of Edinburgh, says: "Last time, in terms of how it was presented within Russia and also how it looked from the outside, it didn’t feel like much was being done.

“They had a Russian concerto as the anthem. Everyone knew it was Russia and they were doing well [in the competition]. It was essentially putting a sticky label over it, it was a technicality.

"This time, I think the Russian athletes who do compete will face some hostility and will feel it’s not a very welcoming environment. They will be tarred with Russia as a country. There will be some countries, including Ukraine, who are saying ‘you shouldn’t be here at all’.”

A total of 59 Russian and Belarusian athletes were declared eligible to compete under a neutral flag by the IOC. However, just 31 accepted the invitation. Others declined to take part in the Games, despite receiving official approval.

Inside Russia, the mood towards the Games is one of hostility. A recent report in the Moscow Times claimed Russian television may not broadcast the Olympics because of the near-total absence of Russian athletes for the first time in 40 years.

The Kremlin has also revealed plans to host the second edition of its rival “Friendship Games” – 40 years after the first event, which was hosted by the Soviet Union in Moscow as a substitute for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which it boycotted.

"[Competing in the Olympics] becomes quite a bold statement to make,” says Prof March, who believes more Russian and Belarusian athletes may choose to pull out before the Games start on Friday. “It's too humiliating, it's too onerous, and it's too politicised. Those people who sign up are putting a bit of a marker on themselves.”

While some of the athletes who are set to take part as neutral competitors appear to live outside of Russia and Belarus, training in other countries, most will still have strong ties to their home nation.

"They'll all have considerations, unless they've already made a personal decision that they're not going back,” says Prof March. “Anything that puts them on the Kremlin's hate list is going to complicate their their re-entry and their relations with their family.”

To be allowed to compete in the Olympics, Russian and Belarusian athletes had to agree to a strict code of conduct. Their backgrounds were to be vetted by the IOC before the invitations were issued in accordance with the “Principles of Participation” established in December last year.

The principles prohibit eligible athletes from supporting the war in Ukraine, including in the media and on social media, or being contracted to the Russian and Belarusian military or security agencies facilitating Russia’s invasion.

However, an investigation by international human rights foundation Global Rights Compliance found two thirds of Russian athletes due to participate in the Games – as well as a third of eligible Belarusians – had violated the rules, mainly through pro-war social media posts.

Among the Russian athletes implicated in the dossier is a cyclist who allegedly violated rules by “liking” a number of pro-war posts on social media, including posts questioning Ukraine’s right to exist and posts supporting the annexation of Donetsk and Luhansk. Another athlete, who also allegedly broke the code, “liked” posts about ‘military feats’ of Russian soldiers killing Ukrainians and posts displaying the pro-war “Z” symbol.

The investigation also found two Belarusian athletes set to compete in Paris are serving members of their nation’s armed forces – in breach of the regulations laid out by the IOC. Although Belarus is not technically involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has been subject to international sanctions, due to its close relationship with Russia.

However, Prof March says the athletes’ apparent pro-war stance may not be entirely voluntary.

"Ten years ago, it was enough not to criticise the Kremlin domestically, you wouldn't get into trouble if you didn't say anything too controversial,” he says.

“These days, particularly since the war, you have to openly sign up and prove your loyalty. This is why you have a number of these people who have agreed to take part in the Games being accused of saying things which are pro-war – because it would be very difficult not to.”

Ukraine has loudly voiced its opposition to Russian athletes being able to take part at all. President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted before a decision was made that allowing Russia to compete at the Games would amount to showing the world that "terror is somehow acceptable".

While Russia was generally barred from competing in international sport shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, other countries which have taken actions or violated human rights laws which have been condemned internationally – such as Israel’s attacks on Gaza – have not resulted in a ban. The Russian government has pointed to that as part of a Western conspiracy against the nation, claiming there is a wider an attempt to remove Russia from the international competitive stage.

Although some sports, such as tennis, have re-admitted Russian athletes, others, including figure skating, where the Russian competitors generally dominate in many disciplines, have not.

"Either enemies or competitors are pushing us to voluntarily vacate the sports arena, because it would be beneficial for many parties,” Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin told state news agency Tass earlier this year.

Jeremy Pizzi, legal advisor to Global Rights Compliance, however, says he believes the IOC’s regulations should be in place to avoid Ukrainian athletes having to compete against those who are in favour of the war in their country.

He says: “The IOC has claimed that the Principles of Participation were the best possible solution to responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine all while being guided by the interests of athletes.

“If applied correctly, these rules could do just that. However, the IOC has unfortunately failed in its duty to diligently apply them.

“This is leading to a situation where Ukrainian athletes are forced to compete alongside Russian and Belarusian athletes who support the commission of violent crimes against them because of the colours they bravely wear on their uniform. Such a reality seems far from ‘placing sport at the service of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity’, which the IOC purports to represent in its own charter.”

Wayne Jordash KC, president of Global Rights Compliance, says his organisation has raised the issues with the IOC, but has received no response.

He says: “These Olympic Games should be an opportunity for the IOC to affirm and demonstrate its respect for its own human rights policy that is supposed to be premised on principles of peace, stability, and human rights for all.

“The IOC is turning a blind eye to the involvement of Russian and Belarusian athletes who have demonstrated their support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. This is not only a violation of the UN Charter, but it continues to punish Ukraine’s innocent men, women and children with a daily catalogue of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“If the IOC’s stated aim is to ‘Build a Better World through Sport’, then action must be taken by the IOC to demonstrate that it – and its associated businesses – do more than just pay lip-service to ethics and human rights for all.”

The IOC refused to comment on the individuals flagged up by Global Rights Compliance, which relied mainly on open-source information for its investigation.

"We cannot comment on individual cases and the decisions of the independent review panel," an IOC spokesman said. "It has reviewed all the athletes in accordance with the IOC executive board decision and the principles for participation for individual neutral athletes in the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

"Beyond that, we have nothing further to add.”

The Russian National Olympic Committee did not respond to a request for comment.