Paralympics-Ukrainian team to boycott opening ceremony due to Russian participation

By Julien Pretot and Karolos Grohmann

MILAN, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Ukrainian competitors will boycott the Milano Cortina Paralympics opening ceremony on March 6 in Verona, their committee said on Friday, due to the authorisation of some Russian and Belarusian athletes with their national flags.

The International Paralympic Committee’s allocation of 10 combined slots to Russian and Belarusian athletes has created a political storm over the upcoming Games given the bitterness over the four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

The Czech Paralympic Committee said it would also boycott the opening ceremony in solidarity with Ukraine, and some Polish officials will also stay away.

Russia, which has been excluded from much international competition due to the war, says it is wrong to mix sport and politics and that targeting disabled athletes is offensive. 

“The community of Ukrainian Paralympians and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are outraged by the cynical decision of the International Paralympic Committee to grant bipartite slots to russia and belarus (sic),” the Ukrainian committee said in a statement, announcing its boycott of the ceremony and demanding that its flag not be used there.

CZECH AND POLISH SUPPORT

In announcing its own boycott, the Czech Paralympic Committee said: “This means that our representatives will not be present at the opening of the Games in Verona, we will not have a flag bearer in Cortina, and we will not be filming messages from athletes that were to be shown at the ceremony.”

The Polish ministry for sport and tourism said on X its representatives would also not take part, calling the IPC decision “absolutely unacceptable”.

Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi has previously said Ukrainian officials would also boycott the whole March 6-15 Paralympics although the nation’s athletes will still take part.

The Ukrainian stance follows the disqualification from the Winter Games of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war. 

An IPC spokesperson said it was in direct contact with Ukraine’s Paralympic Committee and the matter would be discussed internally.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said her organisation’s focus was on the last three days of the Milano Cortina Games, adding the potential return of Russian and Belarusian athletes had not been discussed yet.

“The IPC is a completely separate organization, so we were not a part of any of those discussions. And for right now, we’re focusing on the last three days of Milan and really enjoying these last few moments. There’s not been any future discussions discussed at this point,” Coventry told a press conference on Friday.

A limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes are competing as neutral independents without flags or anthems at the ongoing Games, with Olympic Committees of both nations still sanctioned by the IOC.

TOTAL OF 10 PLACES FOR RUSSIA AND BELARUS

Russia will have two spots in Para alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding while Belarus was awarded four places, all in cross-country skiing.

“We draw attention to the fact that neither russia nor belarus (sic) went through the qualification process to obtain licences to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina,” the Ukrainian statement added, denouncing the “horrific military aggression on the territory of Ukraine”.

In 2014, Ukraine sent only one athlete from a 23-person team to the Sochi Paralympics’ opening ceremony in protest against Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula.

“It’s very offensive from the IPC to let people who support this war be part of the Games and also to let them carry their flag, because under the same flag they are killing Ukrainians,” Heraskevych told Reuters, saying protests were necessary.   

(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Karolos Grohmann; Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alison Williams)