88 Russian and eight Belarusian athletes will line up under a neutral banner in Paris

Like their compatriots competing in the Olympic Games, Russian and Belarusian para-athletes will not be able to take part in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Wednesday.

There will be Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris Paralympic Games. Eighty-eight Russian para-athletes will take part, starting on Wednesday, August 28, under a neutral banner, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Monday, August 26. Eight Belarusians will also line up, also under a neutral banner, the body specified during a press briefing.

Russia and its ally Belarus have been banned from the Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the invasion of Ukraine since February 2022. Some of their athletes have still been allowed to compete in the Paralympics, under conditions that are the same as those established for the Olympic Games.

In addition to the qualifying circuit, they were subjected to a double check, by the IPC and the international sports federations, regarding their lack of active support for the war in Ukraine and of links with the army of their country. During the Olympic Games, about thirty Russian and Belarusian athletes had been authorized by the International Olympic Committee to participate as individuals and under a neutral banner.

Some sports, such as athletics, had decided to apply a total exclusion of Russians and Belarusians, which is not the case for para-athletics. However, the Russian and Belarusian para-athletes present will not be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony on Wednesday on the Champs-Elysées and the Place de la Concorde, as their compatriots were deprived of during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine.