Russian athletes banned from Beijing Paralympics after huge backflip

Russian athletes have been banned from competing at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing after a huge backflip from administrators.

Just one day before the Beijing Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board has decided to refuse Russia and Belarus athletes entry to the Games.

In a statement released on Thursday afternoon AEDT, the IPC confirmed that athletes from Russia and Belarus will no longer be allowed to participate in the Beijing Games.

The decision comes 24 hours after the IPC announced that Russian athletes had been cleared to compete at the Winter Paralympics.

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“At the IPC we are very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix. However, by no fault of its own the war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many Governments are having an influence on our cherished event,” Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said in a statement.

“In taking our decision yesterday we were looking at the long-term health and survival of the Paralympic Movement.

“However, what is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games.

“In the last 12 hours an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful. They have told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.

On the eve of the #Beijing2022 Paralympics, the IPC has reversed its decision on Russian and Belarusian athletes who will no longer be allowed to compete at the Games. https://t.co/aEdL0tzAbF

— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) March 3, 2022

“Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable.

“With this in mind, and in order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC and NPC Belarus.

“To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce. You are victims of your governments’ actions.

“I hope and pray that we can get back to a situation when the talk and focus is fully on the power of sport to transform the lives of persons with disabilities, and the best of humanity.”

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons. Photo by Wang He/Getty Images for International Paralympic Committee

On Wednesday, Russian athletes were cleared to compete at the Winter Paralympics under the shadow of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but the decision was met with immediate backlash.

The IPC held a meeting and posted a brief statement saying athletes from Russia as well as Belarus, which hosted troops for the invasion, would be allowed to compete as “neutrals”.

It came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged sporting federations across the world to exclude athletes from the two countries.

“They will compete under the Paralympic flag and not be included in the medal table,” the IPC said.

President Andrew Parsons said it was a difficult time for the world and the Paralympic movement, but he urged competitors to treat the “neutral athletes as they would any other athletes”.

“Unlike their respective governments these athletes and officials are not aggressors,” Parsons told reporters in Beijing.

Parsons said the IPC’s decision “is the harshest possible punishment we can do within the framework of our rules”.

He added that the decision had not been unanimous within the committee but he would not disclose a breakdown of the voting.

A spectator waves a Russian flag. Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP

Germany’s Olympic and Paralympic governing bodies expressed dismay over the initial decision to allow Russian athletes to compete, describing it as “a dark page”.

“Not excluding these two delegations is incomprehensible,” fumed Friedhelm Julius Beucher, president of Germany’s Paralympic committee.

The 75-year-old is angry that the IPC “did not have the strength to go beyond the regulations to stand on the side of humanity”, calling the decision “bulls***”.

“Here they argued with a set of rules, while in Ukraine there are no rules for shooting and killing,” he said.

“This decision sends totally the wrong signal.

“What happened today was a dark page in the history of the IPC and the matter is not forgotten.

“It’s a dark day for the Paralympic movement.”

Thomas Weikert, head of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, was just as dismayed.

“The decision of the International Paralympic Committee is wrong,” he said.

Weikert said that allowing Russians and Belarusians compete as neutral athletes “undermines the intention and the objective of (international) sanctions” imposed on Russia.

Karl Quade, Germany’s chef de mission, said the worst thing about the IPC decision was when “cheers broke out next door in the Russian House”.

“That was incredible,” he said.

“It’s incomprehensible that the IPC makes a completely different decision to the vast majority of the sports world.”

Friedhelm Julius Beucher, president of the German Association for Disabled Sports. Photo by Ulrich Roth/Bongarts/Getty Images

Britain’s Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries also took a dim view of the decision.

“I am extremely disappointed in the IPC — this is the wrong decision and I call on them to urgently reconsider,” she said on Twitter.

“They must join the rest of the world in condemning this barbaric invasion by banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.”

The IPC will host an extraordinary general assembly this year to vote on whether to make compliance with the Olympic Truce a membership requirement and whether to suspend or terminate the membership of the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic committees.

It will not hold any events in Russia or Belarus until further notice, it added. Parsons declined to say whether the IPC would take action against any athletes protesting at the Games, saying it would act on a case-by-case basis.

The Winter Paralympics open on Friday.

— with AFP