Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Russian & Belarusian athletes will not parade during the opening ceremony

"Individual neutral athletes (AINs) will not participate in the parade of delegations and teams during the opening ceremony since they are individual athletes, but an opportunity will be provided to them to experience the event," announced the International Olympic Committee at the end of its executive board meeting in Lausanne (SUI) on 19/03/2024. This AIN status applies in particular to Russian and Belarusian athletes who have qualified for the competition (subject to strict conditions, see below).

"The decision regarding the participation of AINs in the Closing Ceremony (on 11/08/2024) will be taken at a later stage, taking into consideration that it is not teams that enter the Closing Ceremony, but all athletes jointly together," said the IOC, which also specified that in the event of a podium finish, "during the victory ceremonies, the AIN flag will be flown and the AIN anthem will be played."

The IOC executive board also decided to set up an "Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (AINERP) to evaluate the eligibility of each athlete with a Russian or Belarusian…