Russia reduced into Olympic outcast

PARIS, France (AFP) — As nations come together in Paris to celebrate peaceful competition, sports powerhouse Russia will be an Olympic outcast after being shunned over its Ukraine assault and will not even broadcast the Games.

For over two decades under Vladimir Putin, Russia has sought to burnish its international prestige through sport, but the 2024 Summer Games will be seen as the lowest point in its Olympic history, with just a tiny squad of 15 neutral athletes representing Moscow.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee banned Russia from competing as a team. The few sportspeople allowed to come cannot wear Russian team colors and will have no anthem.

Russian television has no plans to broadcast the Games, which begin on Friday, in the first such blackout since the Soviet Union shunned the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Russia will be reduced to a shadow of itself at the Paris Games,” said Jules Boykoff, a United States-based academic who studies the Olympics.

“The journey from Olympic powerhouse to pariah has been swift and striking.”

Ukraine’s athletes have been told by their chiefs to avoid Russians in Paris as Moscow presses ahead with its offensive on the battlefield and kills civilians with aerial strikes.

Over 450 Ukrainian sportspeople have been killed as a result of the assault.