In just over a month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to chart with greater certainty life without Russia at the Olympics. When they meet May 19, the 100-plus members will weigh steps that could ostracize Russia further for attacking Ukraine. There’s more than a little collateral damage to consider.
The one-day IOC Session is actually the conclusion of a meeting that started in Beijing, just ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics. For the sake of brevity amid the closed-loop environment there, the IOC chose to suspend the Session until May. It is the first such move in modern IOC annals.
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It was fortuitous, too. The coda to the Beijing session was scheduled well before the Russian onslaught, without a weighty matter like war on the agenda. Honors and awards were supposed to be among the pleasantries. They still may be.
But the question of Russia’s place in the Olympics -- a grand debate on the future of the Games -- may make this a session to remember.
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By then a cease fire could be in place. Instead of daily casualties, there could be talk of rebuilding shattered Ukraine. Reports say more than $100 billion in damage has been wrought across the country. By the time of the IOC Session there could be an estimate of the damage to sports facilities.
So far, Ukraine athletes of note have not been identified as casualties of the conflict. Regardless, the toll of war may mean casualties among family and friends, bombed out homes or other horrors, none of it helpful to athletes aiming for the elite.
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IOC member and Ukraine National Olympic Committee (NOC) president Sergey Bubka is overseeing the response to Ukraine from Lausanne. He’s been based at Olympic House since the outbreak. His report next month will put the pole vault legend into the spotlight again. Besides humanitarian aid, Bubka is also tracking the needs of those from Ukraine who are competing internationally ahead of Paris 2024.
A cease fire in Ukraine may go far to ease unspoken worries that Paris could be at risk if warfare spreads into Europe.
But Paris can likely count on hundreds fewer entries if Russian athletes are banished from the 2024 Games. This question may not be able to be resolved in May, and could become an ongoing controversy dogging the IOC.
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The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) remains one of the 205 NOCs recognized by the IOC, but suspension could be one of the consequences the IOC can still deliver. And if the ROC is suspended, how can it win back recognition?
Two members of the IOC hail from Russia; both are in good standing and able to attend the May session, though it may be virtual due to travel issues. Shamil Tarpishev, a former Davis Cup competitor, has been a member since 1994. Track and field star Yelena Isinbayeva has been on the IOC since 2016 as an Athletes Commission member. Neither is part of the war effort, but both are friendly with President Vladimir Putin.
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Their status, too, has yet to be debated. Get used to it. It’s just more unsightly collateral damage from the Russian war that will litter the road to Paris for the next two years.
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