Aryna Sabalenka hopes to compete under Belarus flag after IOC ruling
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International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry speaking at the IOC's executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on May 6.
PHOTO: EPA
- The IOC lifted restrictions on Belarusian athletes on May 7, allowing them to compete under their own flag and anthem, including teams, for future events.
- Restrictions remain for Russian athletes, who can only compete as neutral individuals, due to their Olympic Committee being suspended and doping concerns.
- World Athletics will maintain its sanctions on both Belarusian and Russian athletes until tangible movement towards peace negotiations occurs.
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ROME – Aryna Sabalenka said on May 7 that she hoped she would be able to play tennis under the Belarusian flag after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lifted its ban on the country’s athletes competing in the Olympics.
World No. 1 Sabalenka has had to compete under a neutral banner as a consequence of her country’s support for Russia following its ally’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Asked whether the women’s tour would drop the ban on her representing her country, Sabalenka said: “I really hope they’re going to give us our flag back.”
“I just know how much of an inspiration I am for young kids, I know that, and they send me messages, and I just want them to feel confident about no matter where you come from you can make it all the way to the top,” added Sabalenka at the Italian Open in Rome.
“For me, representing such a small country, and the hard work that I had to do to get to the top... it’s incredible, it’s a small country, and to make it all the way here, it means a lot to me. I would be super proud to represent Belarus.”
While the IOC lifted its ban on Belarusian athletes competing in the Olympics, restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place.
Competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus had been banned from international competition after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, although some were permitted to compete as neutrals.
Russians will still only be able to compete in Olympic competition under the neutral banner, on an individual basis, and only if they have not actively supported the conflict.
The IOC executive board released a statement saying it “no longer recommends any restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes, including teams”.
“The IOC reaffirms that athletes’ participation in international competition should not be limited by the actions of their governments, including involvement in a war or conflict,” it said.
This new policy should allow for a Belarusian delegation to compete at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028, when it will be present at the opening ceremony and included in the medals table.
The IOC said that the timing of the statement recognised that the qualification period for the 2028 Games begins this (Northern Hemisphere) summer.
The lifting of IOC “restrictions” opens the door to independent sports federations now formally implementing it.
Some, such as judo and swimming, have already lifted restrictions but Belarus’ athletes are still unlikely to be able to compete as a team in track and field, after World Athletics said in response to the IOC announcement that it was keeping its ban in place.
“As a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Athletics sanctions implemented in March 2022 excluding Belarusian and Russian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from competition remain in place,” said a World Athletics spokesperson.
At the last two Olympics in Paris 2024 and the Milano-Cortina Winter Games in February, Belarusians competed alongside Russians as “Individual Neutral Athletes”, stripped of their national colours and in small numbers – there were 17 athletes from Belarus in France, and seven in Italy.
And for the moment that will remain the case for Russians wanting to take part in Los Angeles.
“The situation relating to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is different from that relating to the National Olympic Committee of Belarus,” said the IOC in their statement. AFP
