Olympic workdays look like this for neutral Russian competitors – 2024 Paris Olympics

– I still know where I came from. The place where I was born has not changed. I represent the last name and my first name, the speaker Diana Schneider To NRK.

She is one of 15 Russian athletes allowed to compete in the Olympics. She was wearing a completely neutral white outfit and had just played her first match at a tennis tournament.

We interviewed four of the 15 Russian athletes who competed in the Olympics.

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The rules for athletes were extensive. They could not support the war and had no ties to the military or military sports clubs. When the IOC initially decided to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics, they expected to allow 36 athletes. That was also the number that was eventually invited to compete, but only 15 accepted.

The Russian flag is not allowed at the Olympics, either on the field or in the stands. But on Sunday morning, when two Russian AIN athletes competed, one supporter still carried a Russian flag with him. He cheered for the Russian athletes, but the flag was never taken away from him.

– “What can we do? We can’t jump in the stands and take the flag away. I don’t know who that person is. Someone who probably didn’t know the rules and what they had to do. But there’s nothing we and the trainers can do about it,” Schneider said.

Afterwards, the head of the press zone told NRK to “ask political questions about the flag.”

Taking questions in the Olympic Village

For tennis players, the difference is not as great as usual. They rarely represent their country in competitions.

– In the tennis tour, you always represent yourself. I play for myself. We have been playing like this for two and a half years. It is nothing new for us, we are used to it. I haven’t really thought about it. Every time I go on the court, I represent myself,” Ekaterina AlexandrovaIn the singles competition, they lost to NRK in the first round.

But in the Olympic Village, things are different, said compatriot Schneider.

– I know it’s the same on the court. But in the Olympic Village, everyone looked at us because we didn’t have names on our shirts. So everyone asked me where I was from. But it didn’t matter, everyone was very friendly. “I’m fine with that,” she said.

There was only one Russian neutral athlete in the swimming pool: Yevgeny Somov.

He has lived in the United States since 2017. In swimming, he represents club teams, in addition to EC, WC and Olympics. But in return there are many such championships.

– I wish my teammates were here too. That’s for sure. But what can I do in this situation? Somov asked NRK.

He came to Paris with his American coach and some college friends.

– I didn’t think too much about it (as a neutral athlete).”If this is what it takes to compete in the Olympics, then I have to do it,” Somov said.

Cyclist Tamara Dronova simply shrugged at NRK’s ​​questions.

– There is nothing special about being an individual athlete. I mostly just hang out on my own. It’s going well, we mainly ride our bikes to of Our professional team.

It will not be broadcast on Russian television.

In the run-up to the Olympics, Russia had a major discussion about participating as a neutral athlete in the Olympics. All athletes, from wrestling to judo, refused to participate because they believed the rules were too strict.

Inna Sangadzhieva of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee said Russian media paid little attention to Russian athletes at the Olympics, but the opening ceremony was heavily criticized.

– For the Russian authorities, this is just too much “dirty entertainment”. Criticism also came Against France itself. This is the traditional black and white measure of the whole event, victory Sangazhieva.

The Independent Xinbao Former President Dmitry Medvedev reportedly called the opening ceremony a “sickening spectacle” and asked Russians to stop watching it.

according to Sangarzheva This is the first time in 40 years that no Russian media will broadcast the Olympics on television.

– The Russian media called participating in the Olympics an act of treason. That was before the Olympics, she said, adding:

– Their priority is to blacken the West. Especially in relation to the opening of the Olympics. Russian TV does not broadcast the Russian Olympics, but people watch it through VPNs and YouTube. Russian authorities slowed down YouTube today because of the Olympics and other reasons. Sangarzheva said that restrictions should also be placed on independent media.