USOPC BOD Chair Susanne Lyons said that the committee “backs the idea to include Russian and Belarusian athletes" at the 2024 Paris Games, as long as they "don’t compete under their nations’ flags or in their colors,” according to Bachman & Radnofsky of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The USOPC position is a "reversal of its previous stance,” which had been “harshly critical of Russian athletes competing following a doping scandal" at the 2022 Beijing Games. involving Russian skater Kamila Valieva. The change follows a summit on Friday at IOC HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland, that included “about two dozen of the world’s highest-ranking Olympic officials.” Lyons said that the entire summit group -- which “included top IOC officials and heads of the federations for swimming and gymnastics -- agreed to move forward to bring back Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals.” She said that the pivot is “necessary to preserve Olympic ideals of athlete inclusion despite the sometimes objectionable or even violent actions of their governments.” Lyons said that the IOC’s sanctions -- including "no flag, anthem, colors or any other identifications of the countries” -- for Paris 2024 would be “stricter than the ones" in 2022. Russian athletes in Beijing "waved a flag inspired by the Russian standard and competed under the name ‘Russian Olympic Committee.’” IOC President Thomas Bach last week said that he wants Russian and Belarusian athletes to be "able to participate at the Paris Games, even if the Russian war in Ukraine continues.” His statement also “marked a sharp reversal from earlier this year," when the IOC called on sports federations to "exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from international events” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/12).
