July 30, 2024

(Not) Russian Olympians Arrive in Paris


(Not) Russian Olympians Arrive in Paris
Olympic rings hang at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Own work, Wikimedia Commons.

On July 26, the Paris Olympics kicked off, but Russian flags were nowhere to be found. However, fifteen athletes from Russia arrived in the French capital to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)A Meduza report found that nearly 60 sportsmen competing in the 2024 games representing different countries once competed for Russia.

In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified Russia from the games in response to its war on Ukraine. In 2023, the Russian Deputy Vice Minister of Sports Sergey Morozov said that the number of athletes that transferred to other teams "exceeded one hundred."

Russia allowed most athletes to compete for almost any other country. The biggest scandal occurred after fencers Sergey and Violetta Vida attempted to switch to the U.S. team after making anti-war remarks. Both athletes were placed on wanted lists in Russia for abandoning military units. As a result, they were disqualified from competing altogether.

Russians have transferred to 16 countries since 2022. Uzbekistan and Serbia have incorporated the highest number of Russian athletes, with four joining each team. Bahrain, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, and France have each added two Russians to their Olympic cohorts. Twelve sports lost players, with wrestling and judo experiencing the most transfers. Among these athletes is gold-medal rower Anna Prakaten, who initially represented Belarus, then Russia, and is now competing for Uzbekistan.

Russian athletes who have decided to play as AIN include known figures such as tennis players Daniil Medvedev, Yelena Vesnina, and Mirra Andreeva. But many athletes simply withdrew this year, and Russian sports officials have also pressured its teams not to compete in the Paris games. The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Podznyakov, called neutral-status tennis players "a team of foreign agents."

You Might Also Like

A Safe Bet?
  • July 28, 2024

A Safe Bet?

New laws in Russia crack down on gambling.
Fulbright Foreign Agents?
  • June 20, 2024

Fulbright Foreign Agents?

Now that Fulbright has been declared an "undesirable organization," what will happen with its current and former Russian researchers?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955