VOA文化艺术2023--Russians Can Qualify for Some Paris Olympic Events, Not Others

Russians Can Qualify¹ for Some Paris Olympic Events, Not Others

A year before the Paris Olympic Games, officials overseeing many of the sports on the 2024 program have not agreed on how to treat Russian athletes.

Increasingly, different governing bodies are permitting Russian athletes to take part in Olympic competitions as neutral competitors without their national flag or anthem².

At first, most Olympic sports barred Russians from competing soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says it strongly supports those moves although the body says it has not decided³ if athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete at the Paris Games. However, the IOC has delayed action on the one sport whose qualification it controls: boxing.

Most of the sports that have permitted Russians to return followed IOC advice on what to call Russian athletes. They call them "individual neutral athletes." The sports groups are continuing to ban Russians who are under contract with the Russian military. They also ban athletes who have publicly supported the war in Ukraine. The IOC also suggests blocking Russia from team sports like soccer or basketball.

Ukraine is opposed to any Russians competing. Since last year, Ukrainian athletes and national teams have not been competing in events permitting Russians. The Ukrainian government banned its athletes in team sports to compete against Russian teams. Ukraine supporters have been looking through Russian athletes' social media accounts for pro-war posts that could disqualify them from competing.

Here is what the Associated Press says about the situation in a few major Olympic sports:

Track and field

The sports group World Athletics⁴ governs track and field sports. It banned athletes from Russia and Belarus from competitions after the invasion of Ukraine. That ban remains⁵ in place "for the foreseeable future," after a vote of the World Athletics governing group in March. President Sebastian Coe said at the time that deaths and destruction in Ukraine have only "hardened" the decision to keep a ban in place.

Swimming

World Aquatics⁶ is the group that governs swimming. It is one of the sports taking Russia's return slowly. It has said it favors Russia and Belarus returning to its different sports, but it set up a group to study the issue, which will report in late July. That means no Russians can compete at the world championships this month in Japan.

Tennis

Men's and women's tennis permits individual Russian or Belarusian players. But the sport punished some competitions, including Wimbledon, which enforced restrictions⁷.

Ukrainian players continue to compete but often do not shake hands with Russians or Belarusians. Aryna Sabalenka is from Belarus. She won the Australian Open in January. She also has been questioned about her past support for Belarus' authoritarian⁸ leader, President Alexander Lukashenko. She has said she does not support the war.

Russian and Belarusian players are barred from national team competitions like the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. The International Tennis Federation⁹ has not made a final decision on the Olympics. But it has a lot of time because qualification is decided by the June 2024 world positions.

Gymnastics

Those that compete in the sport gymnastics from Russia and Belarus will be permitted to take part in sanctioned¹¹ competitions as "individual neutral athletes" from the start of 2024.

The world Championships are to be held in early October in Belgium.

Russian gymnasts have been some of the loudest supporters of the war. Days after the invasion, Ivan Kuliak wore a pro-war "Z" symbol on a competition stand while next to a Ukrainian athlete. He was suspended for a year. Other Russian gymnasts appeared on stage at an event to support the war. And Olympic gold medalist Nikita Nagornyy heads a military youth organization in Russia.

Team Sports

The IOC supports banning Russia from team sports and no Olympic sport has gone against that decision. The IOC also suggests a ban on "team events in individual sports" like the team all-around in gymnastics.

Words in This Story

athlete – n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength

anthem – n. a song that praises a particular country and that is officially accepted as the country's song

qualify – v. to give (someone) the right to do, have, or be a part of something

foreseeable – v. to see or become aware of (something that has not yet happened)

authoritarian – adj. expecting or requiring people to obey rules or laws: not allowing personal freedom

sanction¹⁰ – v. to officially accept or allow (something)

symbol – n. a letter, group of letters, character, or picture that is used instead of a word or group of words

1 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

2 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 aquatics   

n.水生植物，水生动物( aquatic的名词复数 )；水上运动

参考例句：

• Pasturage breed aquatics basically has pig, ox, sheep and fowl. 畜牧养殖主要有猪、牛、羊和家禽。 来自互联网
• So in English they are National Stadium and National Aquatics Center. 这两处场馆的正式名字叫做”国家体育场”和”国家游泳中心“。 来自互联网

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 sanction   

v.同意（某事），批准，认可；n.批准，国际制裁

参考例句：

• Prison is the best sanction against a crime like this.为遏止这类罪行，监禁手段是上策。
• Official sanction has not yet been given.尚未获得正式批准。

11 sanctioned   

实施惩罚( sanction的过去式和过去分词 )； 实施制裁

参考例句：

• The wrong pronunciation of the word is sanctioned by public usage. 人们接受了这个字的错误读法，因为大家都这样念。
• Our plan wasn't sanctioned by the board of directors. 我们的计划没有得到董事会的批准。