GENEVA — The IOC stepped up efforts Thursday to explain its position on trying to help Russian athletes qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics amid a backlash from Ukraine and its allies.
The International Olympic Committee’s move last week to map a pathway to Paris for athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war provoked strong objections from Ukraine, which wants to see those countries remain banned from most international sports.
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Publishing a series of explanations and rebuttals to its critics Thursday, the the Olympic body also responded to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s invitation for his IOC counterpart Thomas Bach to return and see the ruined city of Bakhmut.
“Currently there are no plans for another visit to Ukraine,” the IOC said, noting that Bach visited Kyiv last July and had since spoken with Zelenskyy in telephone calls.That view has been challenged in recent days by two Ukrainian medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, tennis player Elina Svitolina and high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, and by boxer Wladimir Klitschko, who took gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. They want a total ban on Russia and Belarus from Paris.