Russia hopes swimming return paves way for end to sporting neutrality

LONDON – One of the key figures behind diplomatic efforts that secured Russian swimmers’ return to elite competition at the ongoing World Aquatics Championships in Singapore is now hoping to end the country’s sporting neutrality, as officials push for wider Olympic participation.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was

banned for violating the Olympic Charter

in relation to the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but some of its athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and sports such as swimming are gradually welcoming more Russians back into the fold.

Dmitry Mazepin, president of the Russian Aquatics Federation and vice-president of the ROC, said he would do his best to ensure that Russian athletes compete under their national flag in time for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and urged the sporting community to end double standards.

“If you are in the wrong sport, you will be punished,” he said, pointing to tennis and ice hockey, where individuals have been allowed to continue competing, while many swimmers have been left out in the cold.

“I’m happy for the moment that my athletes and swimmers can compete everywhere. Unfortunately with the neutral flag, but they can compete.”

Mazepin said negotiations on swimming participation included personal meetings with World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam and countering what he called “political” opposition from certain countries, particularly Nordic states.

The doping scandals that plagued Russian sport for years no longer form a part of opposition to Russians’ participation, he said.

He added: “It’s always about political cases. We do not discuss any doping issues.”

In October 2023, the IOC suspended the ROC for admitting regional sports organisations under the authority of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine as members. The four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were annexed after referendums that Western nations have dismissed as shams.

Mazepin said the ROC had made changes, now structured by federation rather than geography, and was pushing the IOC to remove restrictions based on its new structure.

A final decision will ultimately come down to new IOC president Kirsty Coventry, but previous IOC statements suggest any significant relief for Russia is unlikely while it continues to wage war in Ukraine.

The IOC has condemned Russia’s “senseless war”, describing it as a violation of the Olympic Charter for which it holds the Russian and Belarusian states and governments solely responsible.

Mazepin criticised what he views as another double standard – that nations involved in other conflicts around the world have not also been punished in sporting terms.

“We, as the Russian sports community, are asking why we were punished and others were not touched,” he said. “But we are dreaming of a comeback.” REUTERS