by Some of Canada’s top Olympians are publicly demanding that the Canadian Olympic Committee reverse its position and withdraw support for Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics.
Dozens of athletes have signed an open letter to the COC, condemning its apparent support for allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete in the Paris Summer Games as “neutrals”.
This came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it wanted to see athletes from both Russia and its close ally compete in Paris.
“We’re here to be heard and to make the COC listen,” retired rugby player Jen Keys, one of the Olympians who signed the letter, told CBC News.
“We want them to get the message that there’s no middle ground here. You’re either on one side or the other. And which part of history do you want to be on?”
In the letter, the athletes say that allowing neutral Russia and Belarus to participate “sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned about Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.”
IOC softens stance, COC follows
A year ago, the IOC was among the first international bodies to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and recommended that sports organizations ban Russian athletes from international competition.
But that changed in January when the IOC’s executive board he said he doesn’t believe it anymore an athlete “should not be prevented from competing solely because of his passport”.
He went on to recommend exploring a “pathway for athletes to compete under strict conditions.”
In response, the COC said in a statement that it still supports the IOC’s previous position that Russia and Belarus should be banned from international competition.
However, he added that excluding “athletes solely because of their nationality also goes against the basic principles of the Olympic movement”.
A few weeks later, COC head David Shoemaker he told CBC Sports: “If there is some way that there could be exemptions for those athletes who can prove to us that they are opposed to war, we would be willing to consider what the international community has in mind.”
The change angered Kish and fellow Olympians, including retired hurdler Perdita Felicien and retired cross-country skier Beckie Scott, who acknowledged they could face repercussions for speaking out against the COC’s position.
“The biggest danger for us is to remain silent and complicit with this statement because we disagree so strongly with it,” Scott said.
Scott says she and other Olympians spoke with COC board members, but it became clear they were on “very different sides” and their closed-door discussions were going nowhere.
“They don’t really amount to any kind of change in perspective or position,” he said. “And so we thought, you know what? The next step is to go public.”
Canadian Olympian Beckie Scott explains why she and more than 40 other athletes decided to write an open letter to the Canadian Olympic Committee about its position on exploring a way to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
A total of 42 Canadian Olympians have signed the letter.
In response, the COC says its position has not changed — athletes from both countries should be banned, while leaving room for a “workable model of neutrality.”
“We appreciate the views and concerns raised by the athletes in today’s letter and have offered to speak with many of the signatories several times over the past month to discuss their views and clarify our position, including at a special meeting of the Board of Directors of COC convened for this purpose,” the commission said in an email to CBC News.
“Our position, consistent over the past year, is that we support the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sport while the invasion is ongoing. This is in line with the recent statement, signed by Canada and more than 30 other nations, the which calls for the ban to continue in the absence of clarity and concrete details on a workable neutrality model.”
Ottawa’s position unchanged
Felicien says the letter has nothing to do with or embarrass the COC.
“This is about doing what we think is right. We have so much sporting influence, so much power as a sporting nation,” he said. “And I think for a lot of us who are sitting back watching this, it’s a little bit of a shame to see our country fall out of line with what’s right.”
Canada is indeed in between 35 signing a statement to the ILO calling on her to clarify the idea of ”neutrality” for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“In Russia and Belarus, sport and politics are closely intertwined,” the statement, released last month, read in part.
“We have strong concerns about how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ – under IOC conditions without identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states.”
Sports Minister Pascal St-Ong said Canada’s position was clear, tweeting on February 10 that both countries “must be banned” from the Paris Games.
“Let’s stand in solidarity with Ukraine,” he said.
Canada’s position is clear: Russian and Belarusian athletes must be banned from the 2024 Olympics. I have reiterated this to my international counterparts and to the President @ZelenskyyUa.
Let’s stand in solidarity with Ukraine.🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/qg3ov8z7hX
Kish, Scott and Felicien want the COC to do the same.
“Is it difficult to stand up to Russia? It’s hard to resist [IOC president] Thomas Bach and the ILO? Absolutely,” said Felicien. “However, you have to do it … you have to have moral courage and you have to do what is right.”
Scott says she believes the ILO has changed its position because of its deep ties to Russia.
“Russia is a very powerful, well-equipped nation with deep pockets and the ability to host major events, major competitions. It is a very important partner of the IOC,” he said. “And thus [the IOC is] looking for a way out of the sanctions imposed a year ago.”
The IOC’s move also drew a sharp rebuke from Ukraine, which said it was handing Moscow a “platform to promote genocide”.
The IOC dismissed the criticism as “slanderous”.
Felicien says the COC’s suggestion that Russian athletes could publicly denounce the war to be allowed to compete is simply unrealistic, as they would then be targeted and persecuted at home.
“The Russian Olympic Committee asked its athletes to encourage [the military], to support the war, to participate in the war. That’s what we’re dealing with,” he said. “And to think that they’re going to get to Paris and be completely neutral… it doesn’t exist. He’s not in touch with reality.”
Canadian Olympian Perdita Felicien says she and her teammates thought a lot about the effect the ban from the Paris Olympics would have on athletes from Russia and Belarus, but ultimately agreed that a larger human rights issue needed to be addressed and democracy.
Felicien said that while there may be Russian or Belarusian athletes who do not support the war, their Olympic dream is not more important than basic human rights and democracy.
“When I think about what the Ukrainian people are going through and I think about a single Russian, a Belarusian athlete, who may not be going to Paris in 2024,” he said. “To me, there’s no comparison in what’s at stake.”
Scott is even more blunt.
“The idea of athletes from Ukraine sharing a pool or a track or field with athletes from Russia is quite morally reprehensible,” he said.
And while Ukraine itself has threatened to boycott the Paris Games if Russia is allowed to compete, Kish says that would be even worse.
“Isn’t it absurd to have a bully in the Olympics – and the victim at home and giving up on his dream? Isn’t that absurd? Seeing the bully win? That makes me not even want to watch the Olympics.” Kish said.
“Because that’s not what the Olympics stand for. It’s absurd and it’s sad.”
Olympian Jen Kish says if Russia and Belarus are allowed to send athletes to compete in the Paris Games, other countries should consider not going.
Here is the Canadian Olympic Committee’s full statement:
“The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) stands in solidarity with Ukraine and, in alignment with the Government of Canada and the international community, condemns the Russian and Belarusian invasion of Ukraine.
We appreciate the views and concerns raised by the athletes in today’s letter and have offered to speak with many of the signatories several times over the past month to discuss their views and clarify our position, including at a special meeting of the COC Board of Directors convened for this purpose.
Our position, consistent over the past year, is that we support the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sport while the invasion is ongoing. This is in line with the recent statement, signed by Canada and more than 30 other nations, calling for the ban to continue in the absence of clarity and concrete details on a workable neutrality model.”
