Traditionally, Russia has been a top contender in Olympic medal counts.
However, many Russians may skip the Paris Games due to a ban that prevents Russians and Belarusians from competing under their national flags as a result of the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Historically, Russia and the former Soviet Union rank second only to the United States in Olympic gold medals.
Yet, only 15 Russian athletes will participate in France, and they will compete as neutrals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for endorsing regional Olympic councils in Ukrainian territories – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia – that Russia claims as its own.
Russians and Belarusians can compete at the Games only as individuals with no flag and had to pass a screening process designed to root out anyone who has publicly supported the war or military.
Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 under what Moscow calls a “special operation,” has denounced the IOC measure as politically motivated.
The IOC said Russia’s move to recognize the regional Olympic councils was a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violated the territorial integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.
In Russia, the IOC restrictions are seen by many as undermining the Olympic Charter’s stance against any form of discrimination based on race, religion, politics, gender, or otherwise.
“The very meaning of the Olympics is gone, has sunk into oblivion,” Anastasia, a Moscow resident who refused to give her surname, told Reuters.
She said she would not be watching the Games, which are not being shown on state television but can be found online.
“The Olympics were originally created as a unification of countries, but in this context, this is some kind of obscurantism, not a unification, and everything has turned upside down,” she said.
That view was echoed by several Russians in interviews with Reuters in Moscow before the Games’ opening ceremony.
Russian officials accuse the West of trying to “cancel” the world’s largest country and its culture and say such efforts are doomed to failure.
No one to root for
Valery Arkhipov, president of the Union of Collectors of Russia, has a vast collection of Olympic merchandise, mostly from the 1980 Moscow Games. But without Russia competing this year, he sees no point in watching.
“I have other things to do,” he said. “The Olympics are far away, our athletes are not participating or are participating under a neutral flag; it’s not very interesting anymore.”
“I think that all the principles of the Olympic movement have been completely violated and that interest in the Olympics is quite weak,” he said.
The 1980 Moscow Games were boycotted by 66 countries, including the United States, following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Among Russians interviewed by Reuters, a few said they would try to watch the sporting events online.
“We plan to broadcast the opening of the Olympics and the entire Olympics in general,” said Kristina, the manager of a sports bar. “There are a sufficient number of guests who are interested, who watch sports, who watch the Olympics. So undoubtedly it will be broadcast in our pub.”
For others, the Olympic Games hold no interest if Russia is not officially represented.
“I won’t watch because Russia won’t be there,” said Maria, a Moscow resident who declined to give her last name. “It’s frustrating and unpleasant. You want to root for your own people, and if they are not there, there is no one to root for.”
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