Russians, Belarusians out of Paralympics amid boycott risk

Faced with threats of withdrawals and growing animosity in the Athletes Village, organizers of the Winter Paralympics on Thursday reversed course and expelled athletes from Russia and Belarus.

The about-face came less than 24 hours after the International Paralympic Committee announced it would allow Russians and Belarusians to compete when the Games open on Friday, but only as neutral athletes with colors, flags and other national symbols removed because of the invasion of Ukraine.

The Paralympics in Beijing, which follow the Winter Olympics, close on March 13.

“The war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many governments are having an influence on our cherished event,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said Thursday after announcing the ban. “We were trying to protect the Games from war.”

Parsons said the IPC underestimated the negative reaction to letting Russians and Belarusians compete — even as neutral athletes. The Athletes Village, which Parsons hoped would be a place of harmony, he now depicted as a tinderbox.

And it was not only Ukrainians resenting the Russian and Belarusian participation, but across the board.

“We don’t have reports of any specific incidents of aggression or anything like that," Parsons said. “But it was a very, very volatile environment in the (Athletes) Village.

"It was a very rapid escalation which we did not think was going to happen. We did not think that entire delegations, or even teams within delegations, will withdraw, will boycott, will not participate."

The first instance came when Latvia said its curlers would refuse to play against the Russians in a scheduled group game.

IPC spokesman Craig Spence described a stark change in just over 12 hours from athletes,