Russians and Belarusians at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing will compete as “neutral athletes” because of their countries' roles in the war against Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee said Wednesday. Russian athletes had already been slated to compete as RPC, short for Russian Paralympic Committee, as punishment for the state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and a subsequent cover-up. Some sports like swimming haven’t followed the recommendation from the IOC to ban Russians, instead allowing them to compete as neutral athletes. Parsons acknowledged the possibility that some Paralympic athletes might refuse to compete against their counterparts from Russia. Officials say 71 Russian athletes are expected to compete in the Paralympics, joined by 20 from Ukraine.

Source: Daily Sun March 02, 2022 20:13 UTC