Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya know they have won Olympic medals – the gold and silver hanging around their necks is proof – but they will not be shown in the official medal table.
The trampoline gymnasts are two of the 17 Belarusians competing in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) because their country is banned owing to its support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has invited eligible athletes from the two countries to compete as AINs if they meet strict criteria, but they have no national flag, colours or anthem – and their medals will not be displayed in the table.
Among the conditions are that the athletes must not actively support the war and must not be contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies.
Litvinovich, 23, successfully defended his men’s title on Friday but – rather than hearing the Belarusian anthem that accompanied his flag on the podium in Tokyo – he listened to a specially composed song commissioned by the IOC with no lyrics, while the teal AIN flag was raised.
Bardzilouskaya, 19, had earlier taken silver behind Great Britain’s Bryony Page in the women’s trampoline.
She received congratulations from the Belarusian Olympic Committee (BOC), which is not recognised by the IOC.
“This is your first Olympic medal and the first medal for Belarus in Paris, so it is twice as valuable and special,” its president Viktor Lukashenko – son of the country’s president Alexander Lukashenko – said in comments carried on the BOC’s website.
“Thanks to your persistence, aspiration and diligence, you were able to surpass many famous rivals and, above all, yourself in a difficult psychological struggle.
“Your beautiful debut at the Games is impressive and admirable. You have given unforgettable emotions and joy to millions of Belarusian fans and our athletes.”
Eligible Russian athletes are also competing as AINs and there is another AIN medal guaranteed at these Games after Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider reached the women’s doubles tennis final. They are two of the 15 Russians competing here.
The IOC initially banned Russian and Belarusian athletes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But it later decided athletes from the two countries would be able to participate as neutrals if they met strict eligibility conditions, saying that letting individuals take part was about “respecting human rights”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last year that allowing Russia to compete at the Olympics would amount to showing that “terror is somehow acceptable”, adding there was no neutrality in sport while his country’s athletes were dying on the battlefield.
Source Agencies
