International Olympic Committee (IOC) public Full list of Olympic participants – from Russia 2024. 15 Russian athletes with neutral status will compete, the list is as follows:
TennisPeople: Daniil Medvedev, Mirra Andreeva, Roman Safiullin, Pavel Kotov, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Diana Schneider, Elena Vesnina.
Cycling: Alexey Ivanchenko, Gleb Syritsa, Tamara Dronova;
Kayaking and canoeing: Alexey Korovashkov, Zakhar Petrov, Olesya Romasenko.
Swimming: Evgeny Somov.
Jumping on a trampoline: Angela Bladtseva.
The smallest delegation in history
Russia could have expected more representation at the Games, as there were about 50 places available. However, the IOC did not allow everyone, and some could not participate due to injuries, while others decided to refuse to participate. Some federations did not even apply to participate in the Olympics, as they boycotted the competitions, especially wrestlers and judokas. However, wrestler Shamil Mammadov admitted that he would go to Paris in the end, but he was injured.
Cyclist Alexander Vlasov, as well as tennis players Andrei Rublev and Karen Khachanov, also refused to go to the Games. But the most experienced Elena Vesnina, who was included in the application of the International Tennis Federation, was added to the list of Russian racket and ball masters in Paris. It is interesting that in the last Olympics in Tokyo, in addition to Vesnina, Medvedev and Alexandrova, cyclist Dronova and canoeist Romasenko also participated.
At the same time, Romasenko was preparing for the trip to Paris, but could not find his name on the list of participants. He independently contacted the IOC and still received an invitation.
So the smallest delegation of athletes in the history of not only Russia, but also the USSR will go to the 2024 Olympic Games: only 15 people. Let’s exclude from the brackets the London – 1908 Games, in which athletes from the Russian Empire participated, and there were only six of them.
“Broadcasts of Games? Wrong case, wrong time”
Russian fans will have to work hard to watch the competition: Russian TV channels have refused to buy the rights to broadcast the Games. State Duma deputy and Olympic speed skating champion Svetlana Zhurova told socialbites.ca that it would be strange to spend so much money on broadcasts when the country is in a difficult situation.
“Of course, everyone wants our athletes to be identified as Russians. That’s probably why we stopped broadcasting. People won’t understand: throwing money away for IOC broadcasts and showing them on central channels is not the easiest time in the country. It’s not the situation and time. Those who need it will still be able to find the broadcasts on the Internet,” Zhurova said.
“Russia Will Not Be Represented at the Olympic Games”
The parliamentarian reminded that Russia will not be represented at the Games, stressing that it is more interesting for fans to watch athletes who are somehow identified with their country.
“Russia will not be represented; individual neutral athletes will take part in the games. Unfortunately, they cannot associate themselves with Russia in any way. The moment they show any national characteristics, they will be disqualified and sent home.
We have always stood by our people with our flag and anthem, preferably so that they win too. When we took the conditional 20th place in any discipline, the fans’ interest always fell. For fans, everything is always simple: our own team performs, and I support our own team. Or they watch individual disciplines – for example, I always watch the 100-meter race, and it doesn’t matter to me who competes there. This is an amazing event that happens outside of politics and national factors. This is the beauty of sports, a real Olympic discipline that came to us from Ancient Greece,” Zhurova concluded.
At the end of February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called on international sports federations to recommend that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to participate in any competitions. In 2023, the organization decided to accept Russians and Belarusians as neutral athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games. To participate, they had to meet a number of conditions and qualify.