Olympic echoes of boycott era as Ukraine vs IOC intensifies
A contest that could define the 2024 Paris Olympics is playing out 18 months before medals are awarded
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — A contest that could define the 2024 Paris Olympics is playing out 18 months before medals are awarded. It's giving the International Olympic Committee a political challenge with echoes of the 1980s.
Ukraine fired up its campaign on Friday to have Russia and military ally Belarus excluded from the next Summer Games with talk in Kyiv of a boycott and support from sympathetic governments in the Baltics and elsewhere in Europe.
The IOC responded in a statement that “it is regretful that politicians are misusing athletes and sport as tools to achieve their political objectives.”
Pushback has been fierce in the 10 days since the IOC set out its preferred path for Russian and Belarusian athletes who do not actively support the war to try to qualify for Paris as neutrals.
