Canadian Olympians are strongly against supporting athletes from Russia
Some Canadian athletes demand no support for athletes from Russia and Belarus participating in the 2024 Olympics as "neutrals".
Some of Canada's Olympians are publicly demanding that the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) reverse its position and withdraw support of Russian and Belarusian athletes participating at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
"We want them to get the message that there is no middle ground here. You're either on one side or the other. And what part of history do you want to be on? We're here to be heard and to make the COC listen to us," retired rugby player Jen Kish, one of the Olympians who signed the letter.
In the letter, the athletes say allowing neutral Russian and Belarusian participation "sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
A year ago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was among the first international bodies to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and recommended sports organizations ban Russian athletes from international competitions.
A year later, in January 2023, the IOC Executive Council stated that an athlete cannot be excluded from a competition solely on the basis of his or her passport. After all, excluding athletes solely because of their nationality contradicts the basic principles of the Olympic movement.
Retired hurdler Perdita Felicien says the letter is not about coming down on or embarrassing the Canadian Executive Committee. "This is about doing what we feel is right. We have such great sporting influence, such great power as a sporting nation," she said. "And I think for a lot of us who are sitting back seeing this, it's a little bit embarrassing to see our country not align itself with what is right."
She also added that the Olympic dream of athletes from Russia and Belarus not supporting the war is not more important than basic human rights and democracy. "When I think about what Ukrainian people are going through and I think about an individual Russian, a Belarusian athlete, potentially not going to Paris 2024. To me, there's no comparison in what's at stake."
