Which Russian athletes will participate in the Olympics. Without the Russian flag: will Russian athletes go to the Olympics in Korea? And someone was already neutral before

Only the “clean” will be able to perform. Russian athletes. But as independent participants.

On Tuesday, a meeting of the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they decided to admit the Russian team to the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, starting in February 2018.- Olympic Russia (@Olympic_Russia) December 5, 2017

As a result, the Russian team was suspended from participation in the 2018 Olympics. Only “pure” Russian athletes were allowed to compete, but as independent participants.


International olympic committee(IOC) has temporarily suspended the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the organization and suspended the Russian team from participation in the 2018 Olympic Games, which will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was reported by the IOC press service. The decision takes effect immediately.

The head of the IOC expressed condolences to “clean” Russian athletes

Head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach considered the removal of the Russian team from the Olympics in Pyeongchang as proportional sanctions.

- Every single incident was reviewed. Responsibilities were assigned for each, concluded Bach.

But some Russian athletes were still allowed to compete under a neutral flag. I previously commented on this possibility. President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Alexander Zhukov.

- Everyone’s position is clear: Russians will not compete at the Olympic Games under a neutral flag. They will compete for their country. This option is not even considered- Zhukov said in early November.

One of the Russian TV channels has already refused to broadcast Winter Olympics

The Rossiya 1 TV channel will not broadcast the Winter Olympics, as previously reported.

- VGTRK will not broadcast the Olympic Games without the participation of the Russian team, - the press service of the state holding commented on the decision of the IOC, writes RBC.

In addition to the suspension of the Russian team, the IOC made a number of important decisions:

- deprive the Russian Olympic Committee of membership in the IOC;

- not to issue accreditation to any officials from the Russian Ministry of Sports for the Olympics in Pyeongchang;

- deprive of rightsRussian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko and his former deputy Yuri Nagornykh the right to participate in all future Olympic Games in any capacity;

- excludeDmitry Chernyshenko , former head of the Sochi 2014 organizing committee, from the coordination commission of the 2022 Olympics, which will be held in Beijing;

- exclude the President of the Russian Olympic Committee from the membership of the IOC;

- The IOC reserves the right to take action against any other members of the state doping system in Russia;

- oblige the ROC to cover the IOC’s investigation costs for a total of $15 million.

The IOC announced the conditions for admission of Russian athletes to the Olympics

Russian athletes will compete at the PyeongChang Games under a neutral flag, however, in a departure from usual practice, they will be given the status of "Olympic Athlete from Russia" (no country of origin is usually specified for neutral athletes). At the Olympics, the Russian anthem will not be played if athletes from Russia win, and the Russian flag will not be used.

The “purity” of an athlete will be determined by the following criteria:

- the athlete must not have previously been disqualified or found guilty of an offense anti-doping rules;

Channel One claims that if Russia boycotts the Games, the country will be suspended for at least two Olympic cycles.

Chairman of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation Mikhail Fedotov

- If there are no charges of doping against Russian athletes, why should they compete under the Olympic flag, and not under the flag of their country, how do they differ from clean athletes from other countries in this case? Maybe then all national teams should compete under Olympic flag. I personally would welcome this.

Many sports fans in recent months I was interested in the question: “ will Russia participate in the 2018 Olympic Games?»

On December 5, 2017, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided suspend the Russian team from the 2018 Winter Olympics year in Pyeongchang.

This means that athletes from the Russian team will not be able to participate in the Olympics under the Russian flag. They can go to the Olympics with a special status - “Olympic athlete from Russia”, i.e. OAR (Olympic Athlete from Russia). And, of course, only those athletes who have a clean doping history will be allowed in.

Russia is the first country in more than a century of Olympic Games history to be suspended due to doping.. And there is clearly nothing to be proud of here. By the way, the decision was made a long time ago, and on December 5, 2017, only official confirmation took place.

The main reason was manipulation of doping samples at the Olympic Games in Russia, which took place in Sochi in 2014.

The Russian Olympic Committee was disqualified, and Vitaly Mutko was banned from attending any Olympics... indefinitely. The ROC also imposed a fine of $15 million.

Alas, such a decision by the IOC is a disgrace for our country. Let's let you down results of the IOC Executive Committee on December 5, 2017:

  1. OCD is suspended from the Olympic Games.
  2. Russian athletes can participate in the Olympic Games, but not all of them. Those who will participate will do so in OAR status - without a flag, without an anthem, without a homeland.
  3. Officials from the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation will not be accredited to the Olympics in Pyeongchang.
  4. Vitaly Mutko and Nagornykh received a “lifetime ban” from participating in the Olympic Games... all that will ever take place.
  5. Dmitry Chernyshenko, who was supposed to become a member of the Coordination Commission of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, will not become one.
  6. Alexander Zhukov, head of the Russian Olympic Committee, was expelled from the IOC.
  7. Any facts on the same topic (doping) that come to light later may also lead to sanctions.
  8. The Russian Olympic Committee is obliged to contribute to the creation of an “Independent Testing Body” and pay for the IOC investigation. The total is 15 million US dollars.
  9. Any lifting of sanctions is possible only after the completion of the 2018 Olympics.

We've finished the game, ladies and gentlemen. Russia remains without the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. Now the question is very acute about what the athletes will do - will they go in OAR status or ignore the 2018 Olympics.

There's a flash mob going on right now." No Russia, no Games" V social networks with the hashtag #NoRussiaNoGames. Many people really don’t want to see our athletes, and consider it a disgrace that they want to compete without a flag. In any case, we suggest not to strictly judge those who will go, because for most athletes, peak form lasts only a few years, so they simply may not have another chance.

The IOC also suspended the membership of the President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, and removed the head of the Sochi 2014 organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, from the coordination commission for preparations for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

How the decision was made

The IOC rendered its verdict based on the findings of two special commissions it created, headed by Denis Oswald and Samuel Schmid. The first rechecked the facts of doping use by leading Russian athletes in Sochi, including Olympic champions and prize-winners, the second examined evidence of the existence in Russia of a state system of doping support for leading athletes. Both of these allegations were contained in the reports of the World Anti-Doping Agency commission led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren.

McLaren's investigations were based on the testimony of several informants from among former Russian athletes and officials. became the ex-head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov, who left for the USA in January 2016. Rodchenkov claimed that before the Olympic Games in Sochi, with the participation of officials from the Ministry of Sports, as well as FSB employees, his laboratory prepared a mechanism for replacing samples taken from doping Russian athletes with “clean” samples.

Among the documents handed over to the McLaren commission by Rodchenkov, the most important was the list of “duchess”. It included 37 athletes who took part in the Sochi Olympics. Rodchenkov reported that this list was coordinated with the Ministry of Sports and included athletes who took a “cocktail” he prepared during the Games - a mixture of three steroids and alcohol.

As a result of the work of the Oswald commission, 25 Russian athletes were banned for life from participating in the Olympics, and the Russian team lost 11 Sochi medals, dropping from first to third place in the team standings. The conclusions of Samuel Schmid's commission were kept secret until the meeting of the IOC executive committee on December 5. They formed the basis for the IOC’s decision.

Photo: Denis Balibouse / Reuters

Four scenarios

Before the announcement of the verdict, four basic scenarios for the further development of events were discussed - two radical and two compromise, wrote, in particular, Sport-Express. Radical ones - admission to the games of the Russian national team in its entirety, with the exception of athletes disqualified as a result of the work of the Oswald commission, and, conversely, the complete exclusion of Russian athletes from the Olympics in Pyeongchang - were considered unlikely.

Two intermediate options looked the most realistic. One of them was applied two years ago before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, when the IOC delegated decision-making powers regarding Russian athletes to the international level sports federations. At that time, only the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) exercised the right of exclusion, which did not allow Russians to participate in the Olympics. At the same time, individual Russian athletes could gain admission to the games as a “neutral athlete” if they were able to provide evidence of their “purity.” In Rio, jumper Daria Klishina took advantage of this rule.

The second intermediate option (which was implemented) involved the suspension of the membership of the entire Russian Olympic Committee with the possibility of admitting “pure” Russian athletes to the Games in a neutral status. Many Russian politicians, before the decision of the IOC Executive Committee, called this scenario “humiliating and unacceptable for Russia” and called for a boycott of the games in Pyeongchang at the national level in this case.

Will the athletes go?

Now main question— will Russian athletes go to the Games under the IOC’s conditions?

If athletes under a neutral flag are admitted, the question of the trip of Russian athletes will most likely “be taken by the country’s leadership,” Evgeniy Slyusarenko, deputy editor-in-chief of Championship.com, argued in a conversation with RBC a few hours before the verdict was announced. “Russian Olympic Committee and all others sports people they can react any way they want, but they don’t decide, you know who decides,” added Slyusarenko.

Russian authorities did not discuss the possibility of a boycott of the 2018 Olympics until the IOC decision on the participation of the Russian team, previously

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) voted for the participation of Russian athletes at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, Korea, under a neutral flag. The committee said it respects any decision by athletes to participate or not participate in the Olympics, and decided to create a negotiating group with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to agree on the participation of the Russians. Earlier, the ROC prepared an appeal to the IOC with a request to reconsider the decision to ban the Russian national team from competing under its flag and to impose lifelong disqualification on some Russian athletes.


“The opinion was unanimous. Our athletes need to go to Korea. We need to perform, we need to achieve victories for the glory of Russia,” said President of the ROC Alexander Zhukov at a press conference after the Olympic meeting. He emphasized that athletes have to agree, “despite the unfair decision of the IOC.”

The Olympic Assembly also "calls for respect for the choices of athletes, including those who decide not to go." In addition, the ROC promised to provide “full support to athletes who have won the right to participate in the Games, but have not received an invitation from the IOC.”

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov on Kommersant FM:

President Putin said, if you remember, that, in his opinion, no one should interfere with those athletes who wish to travel under a neutral flag. And, based on this position, he expected the Olympic meeting, where the corresponding decision should be made. Now the Olympic meeting has taken place - the decision has been made. Thus, we can only talk about his support.”

Alexander Zhukov said that Russia has 208 licenses to participate in Winter Games, however, the IOC will issue permits, so the final number of participants may still change. According to Mr. Zhukov, the ROC is afraid that the IOC will invite “fifth or fourth numbers” to the Olympics in South Korea, but will not send invitations to the leaders of the national team. Therefore, the ROC executive committee has formed a group of delegates that will go to Lausanne on December 15 for negotiations with IOC members, where they will try to convince the committee to invite leaders after all.

Alexander Zhukov also spoke about the informant of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and former head Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov, now living in the USA. “I believe that Mr. Rodchenkov and his colleagues have caused enormous damage to the sport as a whole, Russian sports and the international Olympic movement,” Mr. Zhukov said at a press conference after the ROC meeting.

Earlier, the ROC prepared an appeal to IOC President Thomas Bach and the organization’s executive committee with a request to reconsider the decision to ban the Russian national team from competing under its flag and to impose lifelong disqualification on some Russian athletes.

After the decision of the Olympic meeting was announced, Channel One announced that it would broadcast competitions with the participation of Russian athletes at the Olympics. Initially, it was planned to broadcast sports competitions on Rossiya 1 as well. However, in November, the press service of VGTRK stated that state television channels would not show the Winter Games if the national team did not participate in them.

Neutral uniforms for Russian athletes will be provided by the company Zasport, which will develop clothing that will meet the requirements of the IOC in the context of the team’s exclusion from participation in the 2018 Olympics.

Let us remind you that on December 5, the IOC Executive Committee allowed Russian athletes to compete at the Olympics in Pyeongchang, but only under a neutral flag and only those of them who were not suspected of doping. Following this, some parliamentarians and politicians in Russia called for a boycott of the Games. However, later Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the authorities would not prevent athletes from participating in the 2018 Olympic Games. “We, without any doubt, will not declare any blockade, we will not prevent our Olympians from taking part in the Games if any of them wants to take part in a personal capacity,” Mr. Putin said during a conversation with workers of the Gorky Automobile Plant.

Roman Dorofeev, Mikhail Belyaev

Just like in the summer of 2016 in Rio, all attention is focused on court hearings. Then, let us remember, lawyers defended to the last the rights of some of our athletes to perform at summer games. Now the scale of the proceedings is even more significant. The visiting branch of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ad hoc, which is located directly in Pyeongchang on an expedited basis, is so overwhelmed with work that yesterday it did not have time to make a decision on two fundamental issues. 32 Russian athletes, including our stars and contenders for olympic medals in the person of biathlete Anton Shipulin, skier Sergei Ustyugov, short track speed skater Viktor Ahn and other iconic athletes, filed an appeal against their non-invitation to the Olympics. These cases were supplemented by 15 more statements from those Russians whom CAS had already found innocent of violating anti-doping rules and reinstated their results at last Olympics, simultaneously lifting the lifelong disqualification from participation in the Games. All these applications will begin to be considered on the morning of February 8.

The situation is, of course, paradoxical. On the one hand, the International Olympic Committee long ago proclaimed CAS the highest authority in sports. Its decisions are binding, according to the Olympic Charter. But at the same time, the IOC itself is essentially violating this charter. After all, if we think logically, what problems could be caused by inviting athletes whose reputation has been completely restored, and whose guilt has been officially recognized as unproven by the highest sports authority? The athletes are clean, they calmly take part in the World Cups, World and European Championships, and other important competitions. U international federations There are no complaints against them in specific sports. But for some reason they are not expected at the Olympics? .

The head of the IOC in Korea answers questions from journalists on a daily basis. So today he held a press conference at the main media center. But nothing new leader Olympic movement couldn't tell us. He only said that he hopes to receive a CAS verdict as soon as possible. And he denied the assumption that his department is putting pressure on the court.

Everything that CAS does is a completely different story, which does not concern the sanctions against Russia adopted by the IOC Executive Committee on December 5. They determine whether Russian athletes should be awarded the privilege of invitation to participate in the Olympics according to the Olympic Charter, Bach said.

At the same time, just a couple of days ago he openly regretted the acquittal of 28 Russians in CAS. And he threatened to reform the Court of Arbitration for Sport. What is this if not pressure? Especially considering that the IOC is one of the co-founders of CAS and its important, although not the only, financial beneficiary. The judges quickly caught the signal, declaring in response that they were ready to consider reform issues. So we can only guess how much these attacks will leave CAS free to make a decision that is very important for many of our athletes. I would like to hope that the investigation will still be objective. At least the day before in Sports arbitration court stated that no later than February 8, the IOC is obliged to provide written documents on the non-admission of Russians to the 2018 Olympics.

If the Russians' appeals to CAS are satisfied, they will be guaranteed participation in the Winter Games

Another important news is that any CAS decision made now will be final. If the Russians' appeals are granted, they will be guaranteed participation in the Winter Games. This was emphasized yesterday by the organization's Secretary General Mathieu Rieb. By the way, the only one who spoke to reporters on Wednesday with official comments from CAS. “There will be no other processes,” Reeb explained.

Meanwhile, it is getting noticeably warmer in Pyeongchang. After almost 20-degree frosts, which looked rather eerie in the complete absence of snow, the thermometer had already crept to “-7” the day before. Let's hope that soon it will become warmer not only outside, but also in the soul.