Russia boycotts the 2024 Olympics in Paris

MOSCOW, Russia

The Head of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov said he potentially can't see a single Russian Olympic athlete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Pozdnyakov told reporters the Russian Olympic Committee did not receive an invitation to the Olympics, and therefore he can't see a single Russian Olympian at the Games yet.

The statement came as the IOC (the International Olympic Committee) president Thomas Bach explained to Olympic athlete groups Monday its policy on helping Russians compete with neutral status before the 2024 Paris Games.

Bach suggested the IOC took an unprecedented strong position on imposing limits on Russians in international sport while, he claimed, 28 wars are ongoing in the world.

The reason given for unprecedented action was that Russia started its military campaign in Ukraine four days after the 2022 Beijing Olympics closed during the United Nations-backed Olympic Truce period.

The International Olympic Committee recommended this year that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus should be allowed to return to competition under a neutral status as long as they have no military links.

But the IOC, facing increased pressure to ban Russia and Belarus from the Paris Olympics held off on deciding whether they can compete at next year’s Summer Games.