عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Zelenskyy Tells Summit ‘No Place’ for Russia at Olympics

Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing, where Russian athletes competed under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. (AP)
Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing, where Russian athletes competed under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. (AP)
TT
TT

Zelenskyy Tells Summit ‘No Place’ for Russia at Olympics

Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing, where Russian athletes competed under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. (AP)
Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing, where Russian athletes competed under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. (AP)

Russian athletes have "no place" at next year's Paris Olympics while their country’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a summit of sports officials from about 30 countries Friday.

The International Olympic Committee argues it would be discriminatory to exclude Russia and ally Belarus from sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Games. With qualifying in many sports already under way, the IOC wants athletes from those countries to compete in a neutral capacity without national symbols.

"While Russia kills and terrorizes, representatives of the terrorist state have no place at sports and Olympic competitions," Zelenskyy told the summit in an opening address by video link, according to a transcript issued by his office.

"And it cannot be covered up with some pretended neutrality or a white flag. Because Russia is now a country that stains everything with blood — even the white flag. It must be recognized. And this must be recognized, in particular, at the level of the International Olympic Committee," Zelenskyy said.

"The International Olympic Committee needs honesty. Honesty it has unfortunately lost. Honesty that will help stop Russian terror and bring peace closer."

Zelenskyy made surprise visits to Britain and France on Wednesday, pushing for fighter jets to battle Russian invaders in a dramatic speech to the British Parliament.

Friday's summit meeting, which was held online and chaired by British Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, took place on a day of intense missile and drone strikes by Russian forces against Ukraine.

"President Zelenskyy told the UK in Parliament this week of the suffering still being felt by many Ukrainians. As he did so the IOC was continuing to ignore the international allies stepping up their efforts for peace and disregard how the Olympics will give (Russian President Vladimir) Putin the perfect platform to promote Russia and legitimize his illegal war," Frazer said in a statement Thursday.

Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Guttsait said allowing Russians to compete would further traumatize athletes affected by the war.

"The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions will make it impossible for Ukrainian athletes to take part in them, because each of the Ukrainians suffered from Russian aggression in one way or another: They lost their relatives and friends, lost their homes, received psychological trauma, lost the opportunity to do what they love," Guttsait, who also leads the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, wrote in a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach and other Olympic leaders that was published Thursday.

Ukraine has previously made public a letter from Bach to Guttsait saying that "threatening a boycott ... goes against the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and the principles we stand for."

Political leaders of Ukraine’s nearby allies in Poland and the Baltic states have said there could be Olympic boycotts if the IOC forges ahead with its plan. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said Russian and Belarusian athletes should be barred from the Olympics in her city if the war is still going on by then.

Hidalgo traveled to Kyiv on Thursday to meet Mayor Vitali Klitschko and said she would "do everything" to convince the IOC. Russian athletes previously competed at the Olympics without national symbols as punishment for doping cases, and using a similar approach to deal with a war is not appropriate, Hidalgo argued.

The IOC, which last year backed excluding Russians and Belarusians from sporting events on safety grounds, also faces challenges from within its own movement. It has given the federations running individual Olympic sports the final say on the details of readmitting Russian and Belarusian athletes. The sports could impose different rules and move at different speeds, or challenge the IOC’s authority entirely.

The governing body of archery said last week that it was "very unlikely" to allow any neutral athletes to compete in 2023, including at Olympic qualifiers. The IOC’s plan for Russians and Belarusians to qualify for the Olympics through competitions in Asia, instead of Europe, was not acceptable either, it added. The governing body of track and field has its own restrictions on the Russian team because of doping and its president, Olympic great Sebastian Coe, has said his preferred solution would be for Russia to "get out of Ukraine."

Olympic qualifiers are under way in some sports and start soon in many more. That leaves federations to grapple with how to reshape a process that they thought was finalized years ago.

It could also be up to them to implement the IOC’s plan to leave out Russian and Belarusian athletes deemed to be "actively supporting the war in Ukraine." The IOC hasn’t defined what constitutes support, while Russian officials have called it discriminatory and demanded the Olympic body scrap that condition entirely.

Ukraine is particularly concerned that Russian athletes from military sports clubs or who hold military ranks could compete.

"In Russia, sport is an element of politics, powerful propaganda, in this case the promotion of war," Guttsait wrote to Bach.

Many of the national Olympic committees have taken the IOC’s line, but some like Ukraine and Latvia say they would rather boycott than compete against Russian athletes. Five sports bodies in the Nordic countries said Tuesday they wanted a ban on athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

2 Sailors Die in the Stormy First Night of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Organizers Say

Spectators at North Head watch yachts compete during the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day at Sydney Harbor on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
Spectators at North Head watch yachts compete during the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day at Sydney Harbor on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

2 Sailors Die in the Stormy First Night of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Organizers Say

Spectators at North Head watch yachts compete during the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day at Sydney Harbor on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
Spectators at North Head watch yachts compete during the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day at Sydney Harbor on December 26, 2024. (AFP)

Two sailors on separate boats have been killed in boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, adding to the event's long history of deaths at sea.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, which administers the yacht race, said Friday that one sailor each on entrants Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline were killed after being struck by the boom, a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the sail.

New South Wales Police Superintendent Joe McNulty identified the two dead sailors as a 55-year-old man from Western Australia (on Flying Fish Arctos) and a 65-year-old man from South Australia (on Bowline).

He said the crews on both boats, which had been seized by police for evidence, were "doing it pretty tough at the moment."

"We’ve got police getting talking to them, doctors and counselling. They’re assisting with our inquiries. They are shaken up by what they’ve seen ... and they didn’t give up."

Officials later said a sailor was washed overboard on another boat, but was rescued. That crew member was from Hobart yacht Porco Rosso, and he drifted a kilometer from the yacht before being rescued.

The incident triggered the crew member’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon, a safety device that must be worn by all sailors in the race.

"That is one of the most terrifying experiences that you can have," said David Jacobs, vice-commodore of the CYCA. "(And) it was at night, which makes it tenfold more scary."

The deaths come 26 years after six sailors were killed in storms during the 1998 running of the race, which triggered a state coronial inquest and mass reforms to the safety protocols — including the radio beacon on all sailors — that govern the race. There have been 13 fatalities in the 79-year history of the race, with four of those deaths resulting from sailor heart attacks.

The fleet was continuing its passage to Constitution Dock in Hobart, Tasmania, with the first boats expected to arrive early Saturday morning. The race is 628 nautical miles (722 miles, 1,160 kilometers) long.

Jacobs reiterated the race would "absolutely" continue.

"The conditions are challenging, but they’re not excessive," he said. "So we’ve got sort of winds at about 25 knots coming from the north seas around about two meters or thereabouts, so the conditions that most of the sailors would normally easily handle."

"The sailing community is a very close community. There’s about a thousand sailors on the water in this race, and to lose two in this fashion is just devastating."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the sailors who died.

"We have sadly awoken to tragedy in the Sydney to Hobart with the awful news that two sailors have lost their lives," he said. "Our thoughts are with the crews, their families and loved ones at this deeply sad time."

The incident aboard Flying Fish Arctos occurred around 30 nautical miles east-southeast of Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast. Crew members attempted CPR but could not revive their teammate.

The crew member aboard Bowline was struck approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of Batemans Bay and fell unconscious, with CPR also unsuccessful.

"As these incidents are being dealt with by the Water Police and all family members are yet to be contacted, we cannot provide further details at this stage," the CYCA said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased."

The first all-Filipino crew of 15 sailors was entered in the 2024 race, but was among the retirements because of the weather. With veteran sailor Ernesto Echauz at the helm, Centennial 7 was one of six international entrants and includes sailors from the Philippines’ national team and the Philippines navy.

Last year, LawConnect won line honors after holding off defending champion Comanche by less than a minute in an exciting finish between the super maxis. LawConnect, which was runner-up in the last three editions of the race, finished in 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Comanche’s time was 1 day, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds — a margin of just 51 seconds.

Comanche, which was among the retirements in this year's race, holds the race record of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds, set when it won in 2017.

Nearly 26 hours into the race, 85 entrants were still sailing and 19 yachts had retired at sea or in port.

LawConnect, which led out of Sydney Harbor on Thursday, was ahead in the race but still had about 150 nautical miles before reaching Hobart. It could mean an overnight finish for the leading yachts early Saturday. Celestial V70 was in second place, about 20 nautical miles behind LawConnect.