Winter Paralympics 2022: How Two Countries Got Banned
About a week ago, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ended, and days ago, the Winter Paralympics began. It should seem that things would continue normally. However, there has been a new twist.
Initially, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) allowed the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) and Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus to compete. But that decision has been reversed amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helped by Belarus. The two countries had previously got approved to compete under the neutral banner. So how did the situation come to be?
To understand this, we need to look back to why Russia competes as the RPC and ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). That has to do with the 2014 doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, apparently government-supported. Though the country is serving a multiple-year ban from the Games, athletes could still compete under the RPC and ROC. This exception took place during the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, the IPC repealed that decision for other athletes’ safety. The IPC made a statement saying that they were sorry for the athletes affected by the decisions of their governments.
Is this the first time countries have been banned from participating in the Olympics? Well, no. There have been several examples before. In 1948, Germany and Japan got banned due to their roles in WWII. South Africa during the apartheid era. There have also been incidences when individual athletes tested positive for banned substances. In summary, Russia and Belarus getting banned from the 2022 Paralympics come as a surprise, but similar incidences have happened before.
Many of the athletes affected by the IPC’s decisions didn’t walk away fair. It was the decision of the Kremlin and the government of Belarus to invade Ukraine, and those athletes had nothing to do with it. It could be sad to know that you can’t compete in the world’s top sporting competition, just as you arrived. Some athletes may not have even had anything to do with the doping scandal in the first place! The invasion of Ukraine hasn’t just made the IPC ban Russia from competing in sports. FIFA has also banned Russia from competing in the 2022 World Cup.
In an interview, Tigger expressed his opinion on the matter. “I believe that besides being a sports competition, the Olympics [and Paralympics] also symbolize unity and peace. “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together” is the Olympic motto. Every two years, either in a Winter or Summer Olympics, athletes, coaches, and people worldwide get together to compete, and I hope it will always be that way.” That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and remember: Together for a Shared Future!