18 November 2023 , 12:00
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Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko has called for the ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics in a savage attack on the International Olympic Committee.
The former Olympic gold medalist, 47, who also holds the record for the longest cumulative heavyweight title reign of all time, with 4,382 days as world heavyweight champion, has issued a strong condemnation of the potential plans of the IOC and its president, Thomas Bach, providing a pathway to competition for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
The IOC would be open to allowing athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport to compete but only as Individual Neutral Athletes. Those seeking to compete in Paris must also not have any military links. Russia and Belarus will also continue to be banned from team events such as football and some gymnastics competitions.
A number of Russian and Belarusian athletes are part of the military or have been trained by it, while others have been conscripted since the war started in February 2022. According to the Associated Press, of the 71 medals won by Russia at the Tokyo Olympic Games, 45 were by athletes affiliated with the Central Sports Club of the Army.
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"Sport is extremely important," Klitschko told Mirror Sport at the Web Summit in Lisbon when asked about its importance during and after conflict. "Now is the conversation about the upcoming Olympic games. Should Russia and Belarus take place - should their teams go to the Olympics or not?
"They must be banned as a consequence of their government and also athletes that are part of military. While I'm speaking, unfortunately, people in Ukraine are getting killed, athletes are getting killed. Over 250 athletes have been murdered in Ukraine.
"And we talk about someone who was at the Olympics and someone who is going to be at the Olympics as gymnasts. We're not only talking about boys but also the small little girls that are supposed to go to the Olympics and unfortunately they've been killed."
Klitschko is a Ukrainian military reservist and a former world heavyweight boxing champion (Getty)Klitschko has also urged the IOC and its president to not look at the situation through the lens of "sport has nothing to do with politics or war". For Klitschko, Russia's invasion and Belarus' participation is enough for athletes' disqualification.
Klitschko continued: "Who knows how many are going to be killed and that's why, as a consequence, I'm absolutely for the ban of Russian and Belarusian teams and hopefully the president of the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Bach, is going to proceed with that and not going to say that sport has nothing to do with politics or war.
"It has directly to do with the war because one more time: All those athletes, majority of Russian and Belarusian athletes, are in the military - the Russian [and] Belarusian military that have been murdering, raping, and being part of this ground war in Ukraine."