‘No neutral athletes’ in Paris 2024 in athletics: Coe

PARIS: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Friday that there would be no Russians or Belarusians competing as neutrals in the athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“You may well see some neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus in Paris, it just won´t be in athletics,” Coe told a press conference.

“The position that our sport took and has consistently taken is unchanged.

“It´s a settled position. It´s a position the (World Athletics) council took, it´s one endorsed by the executive board and on two separate global occasions it´s been endorsed almost unanimously by the athletics family.”

The International Olympic Committee earlier Friday gave the green light to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris as neutrals, outside of team events and as long as they did not actively support the war on Ukraine.

Coe, however, said the IOC´s decision “points to the primacy of international federations” to make their own judgement. “It´s the pyramid,” he said.