“Neutral athletes” from Russia and Belarus are prohibited from speaking with media at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, per the World Aquatics rules on their participation.
Belarusian breaststroker Ilya Shymanovich placed 6th in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final (59.35) on Monday, but the 29-year-old did not go through the mixed zone after his race due to the no-media policy. Fellow Belarusian breaststroker Alina Zmushka qualified 6th for Tuesday’s women’s 100 breast final on Monday with a time of 1:06.53.
Shymanovich and Zmushka are two of four “neutral athletes” competing at Worlds this year along with fellow Belarusian Olympians Anastasiya Kuliashova and Anastasiya Shkurdai. There are no Russians competing at Worlds this year.
Last September, World Aquatics announced a policy where “neutral athletes” from Russia and Belarus could compete internationally if they showed they do not support the war in Ukraine or have a military contract. Shymanovich and Zmushka returned to action at the World Cup stop in Budapest last October, with Zmushka placing 3rd in the 50 breast (30.53) and Shymanovich 5th in the 50 breast (27.13).
Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned since March of 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Belarus let Russia use its territory for the invasion, shortening the route to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a similar “neutral athlete” policy as World Aquatics in December, but it said that “only a very limited number” of Russian and Belarusian athletes will qualify as neutrals through the existing qualification systems of their federations. Among the 4,600 athletes who had qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics as of two months ago, there were just 11 individual neutral athletes approved: eight Russians and three Belarusians.
Related:
- Vladimir Salnikov Believes Russia’s Chances of Competing at Paris Are ‘Close to Zero’
- Russia Will Not Pay ‘Neutral’ Olympians for Paris 2024 Participation — Medals, Maybe
According to the United Nations, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February of 2022. Last October, Ukraine’s minister of youth and sports said that 361 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have died in the war, adding that more than 3,000 others are currently fighting in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On the other side, some reports have identified more than 315,000 Russian soldiers killed since the outbreak of the war.
The Russian Olympic Committee lost access to IOC funding last October as part of an indefinite suspension for recognizing sports organizations in four regions illegally annexed from Ukraine.
They’re not the only ones WA banned from pool deck stuff (Brett Hawke got banned from the pool deck apparently).
It’s for their own good lol
They don’t have to talk to the media… As long as the media is talking about them, the Russian war cabinet is happy.