 |
|
 |
||
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|||
MidWest MFA AgriServices group has locations at St. Joseph, Maysville, and KingCity. CLICK - MFA CONNECT
|
|
Printable Page
12/11 10:45 CST IOC urges sports bodies to let Russian youth teams and athletes
compete again with flag and anthem
IOC urges sports bodies to let Russian youth teams and athletes compete again
with flag and anthem
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) --- The IOC took a big step toward reintegrating
Russia and Belarus into world sports Thursday by advising governing bodies to
let the countries' youth teams and athletes compete with their full identity of
national flag and anthem.
Athletes have "a fundamental right to access sport across the world, and to
compete free from political interference or pressure from governmental
organizations," the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.
That message in support of athletes will be welcomed in Russia and Israel,
whose athletes have faced recent discrimination, and comes less than three
years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games that risks facing political
crosswinds in the United States.
The updated strategy on Russia was set at a so-called Olympic Summit --- a
meeting chaired by IOC president Kirsty Coventry that invites key stakeholders
from the Olympic family.
"It was recognized that implementation by the stakeholders will take time," the
IOC said in a statement, adding that each sport's governing body should decide
how to define youth events.
The IOC's latest move to ease the sporting isolation of Russia can apply to its
own Youth Olympic Games which are held next year in Dakar, Senegal, from Oct.
31 to Nov. 13.
Russian teams have been fully excluded from international soccer, track and
field and other sports since the full military invasion of Ukraine in February
2022, while Russian and Belarusian athletes in winter sports are now starting
to return with neutral status ahead of the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
A small group of Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as neutrals without
their national identity at the Paris Summer Games last year, where those
countries were banned from team sports.
___
AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
