IPC president pressured by Ukrainian-based journalist over Russia, Belarus participation in Beijing

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International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons was pressed by a Ukrainian journalist Wednesday over the group’s decision not to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus in the upcoming Games, asking him what he would say to the family of an athlete who was killed this week while serving in the Ukrainian military. 

IPC announced Wednesday that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be able to compete in the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing this month but not under the name or flag of their respective countries. 

UKRAINIAN ATHLETES SLAM IPC, IOC FOR ‘CHOOSING BLOODSHED AND PROFITS OVER PRINCIPLE’ AMID RUSSIAN INVASION 

The move was met with harsh backlash from the Athletes of Ukraine, who said in a statement that the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was "choosing bloodshed and profits over principle and stakeholders." 

Parsons was later pressed by a reporter at a press conference that echoed that sentiment, asking him what he would say to the family of young biathlete Yevhen Malyshev who the International Biathlon Union said "died this week serving in the Ukrainian military." 

Lee Reaney, a Canadian journalist working for the Kyiv Post, holds a photo of Yevhen Malyshev, a 19-year-old former athlete on Ukraine's junior biathlon team who, according to the International Biathlon Union, died serving the Ukrainian military, as he speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, Wednesday, March 2, 2022.  (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

"I cannot even start to imagine the pain that his family is feeling at the moment," Parsons said. "I can only tell them that my deepest thoughts are