New Delhi: The Paris Olympics 2024 took off and concluded on Sunday after 17 days of action-packed sporting events. But… all of it happened without the presence of Russia, a nation that is historically known for always being among the top four medal-winning countries. It was due to the ban imposed on the nation following their invasion of Ukraine and their ally Belarus also getting barred from the Games.
Russia notably broke the Olympic Truce in 2022 when it invaded Ukraine. The truce is a UN-backed resolution meant to foster peace during the Olympics, therefore Russia and Belarus were out of the equation. Instead, a handful of athletes from the two nations were invited to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), not having any national flags or anthems.
15 athletes arrived from Russia while 17 from Belarus made it to the French capital, not representing their nations. To get eligible to participate, they had to meet strict criteria including having to pass background checks to make sure they did not actively support the war and that they were not in any case, contracted to the Russian or Belarusian militaries or any national security agencies.
AIN medal winners
The AIN won the medals at the Paris Games in five events and it is to be noted that these medals are not being counted in the official medal table. It was just one medal ceremony that featured a specially composed anthem for the gold-medal winners from AIN.
Out of the 17 Belarusians, four athletes won medals coming in four different events. Ivan Litvinovich won a gold medal in the men’s trampoline event gold while Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya won a silver in the women’s category of the same event. Another medal came in rowing where Yauheni Zalaty won a silver while the last arrived in weightlifting as Yauheni Tsikhantsou clinched a bronze.
The Russians could manage only a single medal which came in the women’s doubles tennis event won by pair of Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.
Besides the 206 participating nations and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), little does anyone know that a set of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) were also a part of the Games. Who were they and how did they perform at the Games? Know it all. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
