| Noc: | AIN |
| Nocname: | French: Athlètes Individuels Neutres |
| Games: | Summer Olympics |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Flag: | yes |
| Flagcaption: | The final version of the AIN flag assigned by the IOC on 19 March 2024 |
| Location: | Paris, France |
| Competitors: | 32 |
| Sports: | 10 |
| Flagbearer: | N/A (did not participate in Parade of Nations) |
| Gold: | 1 |
| Silver: | 3 |
| Bronze: | 1 |
Individual Neutral Athletes is the name used to represent approved individual Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned those nations' previous designations due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that is still ongoing as of 2024. The IOC country code is AIN, from the French French: athlètes individuels neutres.[1]
The delegation was banned from using the Olympic flag and Olympic anthem, which was the usual custom for neutral designated athletes in previous games. They instead used a jade or turquoise flag depicting a circular AIN emblem and a one-off instrumental anthem, both assigned by the IOC.[2] [3] Individual neutral athletes must be first background checked and then approved by each sport's international federation, and then by a special panel created by the IOC.[4] As individual athletes, the delegation did not take part in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony, nor was listed as a delegation in the official medal tables.
While the flag uses the singular wording "Individual Neutral Athlete", the IOC uses the plural wording "Individual Neutral Athletes" in prose.[5]
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which began shortly after the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IOC banned Russia and Belarus and recommended that other international sporting organizers do the same on 28 February 2022.[6] Accordingly, Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics.
On 25 January 2023, the IOC published a statement supporting the idea that Russian and Belarusian athletes could be allowed to compete as neutrals, as long as they did not "actively" support the war and as long as Russian and Belarusian flags, anthems, colors, and names were disallowed (thus banning the alternate designations used by Russia in 2018 and 2020).[7]
On 28 March 2023, the IOC introduced the AIN name and narrowed the requirements down to individual athletes, disallowing any teams of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing. For events organized by an international federation (IF) other than the IOC, the IOC recommended using no flag at all (or if not possible, the event's flag, the IF's flag, or the letters "AIN") and the event's anthem or the IF's anthem.[8] Federations that did not have French as an official language still used the AIN name.[9] The IOC also donated $5 million to the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.[10]
On 22 September 2023, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned the Russian flag and anthem from international sporting events for a second time due to Russian legislation and RUSADA failing to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code, overlapping with the Olympic Truce ban. WADA announced that the ban would not be lifted until "the non-conformities related to national legislation are corrected in full."[11] [12]
On 12 October 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee until further notice, overlapping with the other two bans, due to its violation of the Olympic Charter due to its inclusion of the regional Olympic Councils of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk into the Russian Olympic Committee.[13] [14] At the time of its violation of the Olympic Charter, Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pozdnyakov had said he did not see any problems with the incorporation of the former Ukrainian regional IOCs into the Russian IOC[15] The Russian Olympic Committee responded to its suspension by saying that the IOC had not issued a similar suspension after the Russian Olympic Committee annexed a sporting entity in Crimea in 2014, to which IOC President Thomas Bach remarked, "this argument was a little bit, 'Why did you not sanction us already, earlier?[16]
On 8 December 2023, the IOC published a "draft" version of the AIN flag depicting a colorless emblem on a white background, and stated that they would decide on a different neutral anthem at a later date. The IOC also officially stated that the AIN designation would apply to the Paris 2024 games, and that official medal tables would exclude AIN.
On 19 March 2024, the IOC updated the AIN flag to teal text and a teal background,[17] and published an instrumental anthem "produced solely for this purpose."[2] The IOC also stated that as independent athletes, AIN will not participate as a delegation during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony, but the athletes would still "be given the opportunity to experience the event".[18] [19]
Ukrainian officials have criticized the IOC for not banning Russia despite it violating the Olympic Truce three times, while others have alternately criticized the IOC for applying rules against Russia which aren't applied against other countries.
In particular, the requirement that athletes must not actively support the war has been described as "ineffectual". For example, Russian IOC member Yelena Isinbayeva was cleared as "not linked with the Russian military and not supporting the invasion", despite being pictured in military uniform and receiving military promotions, and despite pro-Russian citizens expressing anger at Isinbayeva after she claimed in defense that she had "never been in the service of the armed forces".[16] On 29 December 2023, an open letter signed by 261 Ukrainian athletes contained evidence that three of the six[20] Russian athletes cleared at that time to participate had in fact actively supported the war, such as by participating in a pro-war rally in March 2022, or starring in a propaganda video explicitly stating and drumming up support for the Russian military.[21]
A compromise suggestion by Poland, where Russians and Belarusians could compete if they were dissidents, was not acted upon by the IOC.[22]
In December 2023, Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pozdnyakov directly threatened any Russian athlete who may choose to participate as a "neutral" at the 2024 Olympics, saying: "As the head of the ROC, I voice a clear position: ... We live in a free state... But... we strongly recommend that you thoroughly understand ... the extent and consequences of the personal responsibility assumed."[23]
In June 2024, Dmitry Chernyshenko, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Communications, stated that Russian athletes would not violate Russian law by competing in Paris as neutrals and encouraged them to participate.[24] However, despite Chernyshenko's encouragement, the Russian Wrestling Federation decided on 6 July to boycott the Games after most of its leading athletes were deemed ineligible to compete by the IOC. This followed the decision taken by the Russian Judo Federation over the same concerns.[25] [26]
Some individuals, such as Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestine Olympic Committee, have asserted that athletes from Israel should also have to compete as neutral due to the country's ongoing military actions in the Gaza Strip, highlighting what he calls "double standards".[27]
See also: List of 2024 Summer Olympics broadcasters. The main Russian and Belarusian broadcasters (such as Belteleradio, Channel One Russia, Match TV,[28] and VGTRK) did not broadcast or acknowledge the Olympic and Paralympic Games, except for brief summaries and negative coverage as part of their criticism of the Western world.[29] [30] This is the first time since 1984 that there was no official coverage of the Games in the two former Soviet countries, when a similar approach was used during the Games in Los Angeles.
Many Russian newspapers and websites, along with Kremlin officials, also adopted a negative view of the Games by cherry picking and accentuating any flaw they could identify: for example, the media accentuated the crime and the "inconvenience" of the security measures, while the Russian Foreign Ministry complained about the weather and the inclusion of the LGBT community during the opening ceremony.[31]
The Associated Press noted on 27 July 2024 that Belarusian and Russian viewers depended on satellite channels and streaming services of neighbouring countries (such as Kazakhstan) to get reasonable coverage of the Games,[32] with the Moscow Times noting a rise in social media channels touting pirated streams to Belarusian and Russian viewers.[28] Without an official broadcaster in Russia, the IOC made their Olympics.com streaming service available to viewers in said country.[33]
Tougher restrictions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in the Russian part of the delegation winning only one silver medal, compared to 20 gold, 28 silver and 23 bronze as the Russian Olympic Committee in the 2020 Summer Olympics: the Belarusian part saw a less severe decline in the tally, with one less silver and two less bronze compared to the last Summer Olympics.[34] [35]
Ivan Litvinovich, who represented Belarus in the last Summer Olympics, was the only athlete from the delegation to defend his Olympic title, winning his second gold medal in the men's trampoline.[36] He was also the only AIN to win a gold medal.
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gymnastics | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Rowing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Tennis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Weightlifting | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 August | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 August | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 August | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 August | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Medal | Name | Country | Sport | Event | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivan Litvinovich | Belarus | Gymnastics | Men's trampoline | 2 August | ||
| Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya | Belarus | Gymnastics | Women's trampoline | 2 August | ||
| Yauheni Zalaty | Belarus | Rowing | Men's single sculls | 3 August | ||
| Russia | Tennis | Women's doubles | ||||
| Yauheni Tsikhantsou | Belarus | Weightlifting | Men's – 102 kg | 10 August |
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
AIN team had 32 competitors from the following nations:
The following is a list of the number of competitors representing the Individual Neutral Athletes that participated at the Games:
| width=200 rowspan=2 | Sport! | width=100 colspan=2 | Men! | width=100 colspan=2 | Women! | width=60 rowspan=2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=50 | Belarus! | width=50 | Russia! | width=50 | Belarus! | width=50 | Russia |
| Canoeing | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| align=left | Cycling | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| Gymnastics | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Rowing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Shooting | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Swimming | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Taekwondo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Tennis | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Weightlifting | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Wrestling | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Total | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 32 |
See main article: Canoeing at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Canoeing at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
Individual Neutral Athlete canoeists qualified one boat for the Games through the result of highest rank eligible nation's in the following events, through the 2024 European Canoe Sprint Qualifier in Szeged, Hungary.
| Athlete | From | Event | Heats | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | |||
| Zakhar Petrov | Russia | Men's C-1 1000 m | 3:49.86 | 2 SF | 3:45.99 | 3 FA | 3:45.28 | 4 | ||
| Alexey Korovashkov Zakhar Petrov | Men's C-2 500 m | 1:38.65 | 1 SF | 1:39.57 | 1 FA | 1:41.27 | 4 | |||
| Olesia Romasenko | Women's C-1 200 m | 49.83 | 5 QF | 47.92 | 4 | Did not advance | ||||
| Uladzislau Kravets | Belarus | Men's K-1 1000 m | 3:32.07 | 2 SF | 3:29.64 | 4 FA | 3:28.10 | 4 | ||
| Yuliya Trushkina | Women's C-1 200 m | 46.15 | 2 SF | 45.32 | 2 FA | 44.83 | 5 | |||
See main article: article, Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
Four Individual Neutral Athletes qualified as riders for the road race events after securing the quotas through the UCI Nation Ranking.[37] [38]
| Athlete | From | Event | Time | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left rowspan=2 | Gleb Syritsa | Russia | Men's road race | Did not finish | |
| Men's time trial | 40:33.30 | 31 | |||
| Tamara Dronova | Women's road race | 4:07:16 | 47 | ||
| Women's time trial | 43:42.16 | 21 | |||
| Alena Ivanchenko | Women's road race | 4:10:47 | 72 | ||
| Hanna Tserakh | Belarus | Women's road race | 4:10:18 | 61 | |
| Women's time trial | 44:57.20 | 29 | |||
See main article: article, Gymnastics at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Gymnastics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
Three Individual Neutral Athletes (one male and two females) entered into the 2024 Summer Olympics trampoline competition through the World Cup Series ranking.[39] [40]
| Athlete | From | Event | Qualification | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Rank | Score | Rank | ||||
| Ivan Litvinovich | Belarus | align=left | Men's | 63.420 | 1 Q | 63.090 | |
| Anzhela Bladtceva | Russia | Women's | 55.640 | 4 Q | 55.020 | 5 | |
| Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya | Belarus | 56.340 | 2 Q | 56.060 | |||
See main article: Rowing at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Rowing at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. The Individual Neutral Athlete rowers qualified boats in each of the following classes through the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and the 2024 European Qualification Regatta in Szeged, Hungary.
| Athlete | From | Event | Heats | Repechage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | |||
| Yauheni Zalaty | align=left rowspan=2 | Belarus | Men's single sculls | 6:51.45 | 1 QF | 6:49.27 | 1 SF | 6:39.01 | 2 FA | 6:42.96 | ||
| Tatsiana Klimovich | Women's single sculls | 7:34.31 | 2 QF | 7:34.30 | 3 SF | 7:26.56 | 5 FB | 7:25.61 | 8 | |||
See main article: Shooting at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Shooting at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Individual Neutral Athlete shooters achieved quota places for the following events based on their results at the 2024 ISSF World Olympic Qualification Tournament and 2024 European Championship.[41]
| Athlete | From | Event | Qualification | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Rank | Points | Rank | ||||
| Aliaksandra Piatrova | align=left rowspan=2 | Belarus | Women's 25 m pistol | 566 | 39 | Did not advance | |
| Darya Chuprys | Women's 50 m rifle 3 positions | 579 | 24 | Did not advance | |||
See main article: article, Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Individual Neutral Athlete swimmers achieved the entry standards in the following events for Paris 2024 (a maximum of two swimmers under the Olympic Qualifying Time (OST) and potentially at the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT)):[42]
| Athlete | From | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||||
| Evgenii Somov | Russia | Men's 50 m freestyle | 23.43 | 44 | Did not advance | ||||
| Men's 100 m breaststroke | 59.83 | 13 Q | 1:00.00 | 13 | Did not advance | ||||
| Ilya Shymanovich | align=left rowspan=5 | Belarus | Men's 100 m breaststroke | 59.25 | 3 Q | 59.45 | 10 | Did not advance | |
| Anastasiya Shkurdai | Women's 100 m backstroke | 1:00.94 | 20 | Did not advance | |||||
| Women's 200 m backstroke | 2:09.64 | 7 Q | 2:08.79 | 8 Q | 2:10.23 | 8 | |||
| Alina Zmushka | Women's 100 m breaststroke | 1:06.37 | 11 Q | 1:05.93 | 5 Q | 1:06.54 | 8 | ||
| Women's 200 m breaststroke | 2:28.19 | 21 | Did not advance | ||||||
See main article: Taekwondo at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Taekwondo at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Initially, Maksim Khramtsov, Vladislav Larin, Tatiana Minina, and Polina Khan qualified for the Games but the IOC did not declare them neutral and they were not invited to the Games.[43]
See main article: Tennis at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Tennis at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
| Athlete | From | Event | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | |||||
| Daniil Medvedev | align=left rowspan=10 | Russia | align=left rowspan=3 | Men's singles | W 6–2, 6–1 | W 6–2, 6–2 | L 3–6, 6–7(5–7) | Did not advance | |||
| Roman Safiullin | W 6–4, 6–4 | W 6–0, 7–6(7–1) | L 4–6, 2–6 | Did not advance | |||||||
| Pavel Kotov | L 1–6, 1–6 | Did not advance | |||||||||
| Daniil Medvedev Roman Safiullin | Men's doubles | L 4–6, 4–6 | Did not advance | ||||||||
| Ekaterina Alexandrova | align=left rowspan=3 | Women's singles | L 5–7, 7–6(7–0), 2–6 | Did not advance | |||||||
| Mirra Andreeva | L 3–6, 4–6 | Did not advance | |||||||||
| Diana Shnaider | W 6–2, 7–5 | L 3–6, 1–6 | Did not advance | ||||||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Women's doubles | L 6–2, 6–7(5–7), [6–10] | Did not advance | ||||||||
| Mirra Andreeva Diana Shnaider | W 6–3, 2–6, [10–6] | W 6–4, 6–0 | W 6–1, 7–5 | W 6–1, 6–2 | L 6–2, 1–6, [7–10] | ||||||
| Mirra Andreeva Daniil Medvedev | align=left rowspan=1 | Mixed doubles | L 3–6, 2–6 | Did not advance | |||||||
See main article: Weightlifting at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Weightlifting at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Three Individual Neutral Athlete entered into the Olympic competition as weightlifters. Petr Asayonak (men's -89 kg), Yauheni Tsikhantsou (men's 102 kg), Eduard Ziaziulin (men's +102 kg) and Siuzanna Valodzka (women's 71 kg) secured one of the top ten slots in her weight divisions based on the IWF Olympic Qualification Rankings.[44]
| Athlete | From | Event | Snatch | Clean & Jerk | Total | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yauheni Tsikhantsou | align=left rowspan=2 | Belarus | Men's −102 kg | 183 | 219 | 402 | |
| Siuzanna Valodzka | Women's −71 kg | 111 | 135 | 246 | 4 |
See main article: Wrestling at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Wrestling at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification. On July 6, 2024, the Russian Wrestling Federation announced that all its invited wrestlers have unanimously decided to refuse to participate in the Olympics due to the IOC having blacklisted top Russian medal contenders.[26]