Russian athlete list shrinks as sports chiefs reject IOC terms

LONDON : The list of Russian athletes who will head to the Paris Olympics later this month has thinned to just over a dozen, as several sports federation heads have said their squads will not take part under what they see as humiliating restrictions.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow's closest ally in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, are barred from the Paris Games unless they compete as neutrals without their flags, anthems and emblems.

As of July 10, the Olympics website shows that only 16 Russian athletes are scheduled to appear in the Paris Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11.

Russia takes pride in its record as a major sporting power at the Olympics. At the last summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, 335 Russian athletes competed, coming away with 71 medals including 20 golds.

Russians and Belarusian athletes have been forced to undergo an additional vetting process to ensure they do not support Russia's war and have no connection to its military.

While 36 Russians received the green light, 20 of them subsequently declined to compete, according to the IOC.

The Olympics kick off as tensions between Russia and the West are at their most acute in decades. Moscow has denounced the vetting process and other restrictions as discriminatory, accusing the IOC of engaging in a "conspiracy" to exclude its athletes.

Several Russian sports officials including in judo, wrestling and gymnastics have said their athletes will not go to Paris because of what they see as the unfair terms.

"We do not accept the unsportsmanlike selection principle that guided the International Olympic Committee when forming the list of eligible athletes, the purpose of which is to undermine the principle of unity of our team," Russia's wrestling federation