Sebastian Coe says Russia, Belarus still banned, but situation could change

Athletes from Russia and Belarus are still banned from athletics events at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, but World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Monday that the situation could change, and that a working group is monitoring it.

Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) at next year’s Olympics.

Athletes holding a Russian or Belarusian passport who have secured their places through existing qualification systems on the field of play will be deemed eligible to compete at Paris 2024, following specific conditions.

World Athletics, however, decided to stick to the blanket ban despite the IOC’s decision.

Athletes from both countries have faced a multitude of sanctions from international competitions since the conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022.

During a media call with agencies including Xinhua on Monday, Coe confirmed “there is no change [to the ban]”, but expressed hope that the sanctions could be lifted.

“The most important thing is that the autonomy and independence of international federations to make these judgements is really important. We made a judgement which we believe was in the best interest of our sport,” he said.

“Do I see anything changing in the foreseeable future? I don’t know. The world changes every five minutes, the situation could change. We do have a working group that is monitoring the situation within the sport, and it will advise and guide the Council on what circumstances might need to exist for any exclusion to be lifted,” Coe added.

Coe also expressed his confidence in the competitiveness of the athletics competitions in Paris, following a “stupendous” season that has seen 23 world records and nine world U20 records broken in 2023.

“The one word I would use [to sum up the 2023 season] is stupendous,” he said. “I can’t remember a season that has delivered more high quality performances across a broader bandwidth of disciplines.”

“Everywhere you look, you have the potential for some extraordinary head-to-heads in the sport, in pretty much every discipline,” added Coe.

posted Tuesday December 19th