Revealed: Why Russian athletes are able to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics - but why they WON'T feature on the medal table or bear their country's colours or flag

The 33rd edition of the Olympic Games is fast approaching and soon many athletes will fulfil their life-hood dream of representing their country at the biggest event on the sporting calendar and potentially winning a medal for their beloved nations.

However that will not be the case for the Russian and Belarusian athletes who are set to compete at the summer Games in Paris. 

This is because Russia and Belarus athletes will be competing in the French capital as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), meaning they won't be permitted to don their country's flag or colours or have the national anthem of their nation played out.

Russia and Belarus were banned from sending teams to the Games because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been heavily supported by their neighbouring country Belarus.

Despite no teams being allowed, the Olympic committee has invited the countries to send individual athletes, however they must meet a strict  criteria which has been set out by the organisation which includes whether the specific athlete has was or military links. 

Are Russian and Belarus athletes competing at the Olympics? 

The IOC formally invited 36 Russian and 24 Belarusian athletes to this year's Summer Olympics in Paris - with only 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians accepting the invitations.

These 32 athletes will compete as AINs at this summer's Games in Paris.  

Russia historically have sent some of the largest contingents to the Olympics even when competing under sanctions in the recent Games and are one of the medal-winning heavyweights. 

For Tokyo 2020, the Russian Olympic committee send 335 athletes, while Belarus sent 101. 

This year's number is a drastic drop from the previous edition of the game and although the federation revealed they had no plans to boycott the Games, it's weightlifting and Judo federations cited that their athletes would not be attending the games due to 'unsportsmanlike selection principle' and 'humiliating conditions'. 

Despite reports that nine out of Russia ten weightlifters initially accepted the invitation, whilst one of the Judo athletes has originally accepted the invite before the federation themselves turned down the invite.

There will be no AIN track and field athletes at this year's Games because the World Athletics association has banned all Russian and Belarusians from competing. 

What are AIN athletes?

AIN stands for Individual Neutral Athlete or Athlete Individuel Neutre in French.

Athletes who obtain Russian and Belarusian passports and have proved that they meet the criteria to compete as neutral athletes will participate under the acronym AINs. 

This will be the fourth Games in-a-row where Russians athletes have to compete under an acronym of some sorts.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the nation was already being sanctioned from the Games due to a state-sponsored doping scandal.

The last time Russian athletes competed in their own nations colours and with the Russian anthem was at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

For the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Russians who passed their doping tests and proved they were clean competed as ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). 

The difference this year from the previous Games is the fact that AINs will not feature as a group on the medals tables unlike with ROC and OAR where they appeared on the table as a group.

How can Russian athletes compete in the Paris Olympics? 

The Olympic committee originally banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from the upcoming Paris Olympics after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. 

However the IOC later decided that athletes from the two countries would be permitted to take part in the games as neutrals if they met strict eligibility rules lined out by the committee.

There reasoning for going back on their initial stance on banning all athletes and instead allowing some athletes to participate was about 'respecting human rights'.

Athlete's who qualified for the games then had to pass a double vetting check, first by their international sports federation and then by the IOC.

The IOC even set up an Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (AINERP) to assess and evaluate the eligibility of the athletes against the strict vetting criteria.

Strict criteria Russian and Belarusian athletes must meet:

• Athletes must not actively support the war
• Athletes must not be contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies (many Russian sports clubs have direct links to the military and security services)
• No teams are allowed

How many Russian athletes will take part at the 2024 Olympics?

As mentioned previously, there will be 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians in Paris this summer for the Olympics.

This marks a drastic drop from the 335 Russian athletes and 105 Belarusians who competed at the last edition of the Games in Tokyo 2020. 

So, which Russian athletes will be competing at Paris 2024?

Russia's contingency at the 2024 Paris Olympics will consist of seven tennis players, three canoeist, three road cycles, one trampoline gymnast and one swimmer.

Former tennis world number one Daniil Medvedev is arguably the most high-profile Russian athlete set to take part. 

For the Belarusian's Ivan Litvinovich is the most well-known and he will be looking to defend his men's trampoline title.

The men's trampoline champion will be joined alongside another trampoline gymnast, three swimmers, two canoeists, two shooters, two rowers, two wrestlers, two weightlifters, one road cyclist and one taekwondo athlete. 

Athletes who turned down the invitation to compete include Russian tennis players Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Daria Kasatkina, as well as Belarusian two-time Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka.

What flag will Russian athletes compete under?

If a Russian or Belarusian athlete claims a medal at this summer's Games, they will stand on top of the podium under a teal and white flag featuring the AIN logo. 

Athletes may also wear they crest of AIN on their kit and if they decide against doing so they must wear white or unicolour instead.

Athletes can not display any Russian or Belarusian colours, flags or emblems as they are all banned from the sporting events. 

If a Russian athlete wins gold, will they play the national anthem?

If a Russian or Belarusian athlete wins gold at any event throughout the Paris Olympics you will not hear their national anthem played at the medal ceremonies.

Instead, if an AIN wins gold, a neutral, specifically written musical composition without lyrics will be played out as the anthem.  

Will Vladimir Putin be at the Olympics?

Vladimir Putin will not appear at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris as no member of the Russian or Belarusian government or state officials have been invited to or have been accredited with entry for the Games.

Speaking about the upcoming games, the Russian president last year said 'If the IOC's artificial conditions are designed to cut off the best Russian athletes and portray at the Olympics that Russian sport is dying, then you need to decide whether to go there at all.'