00:00Athletes from Russia and Belarus will be able to compete under their own national flags at the upcoming Milan-Cortina
00:06Winter Paralympics.
00:07The athletes will be treated like those from any other country, said the International Paralympic Committee.
00:13A decision IOC President Kirstie Coventry had been building up to, having given the clearest signal yet that Russia could
00:20be back for the 2028 Games.
00:22Our game is sport. That means keeping sport a neutral ground, a place where every athlete can compete freely without
00:34being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments.
00:38Six Russian athletes have been awarded wild cards in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, including three-time alpine
00:46skiing gold medalist Alexey Bogaev,
00:48while four Belarusians will be taking part in cross-country skiing.
00:53Russians and Belarusians who met strict criteria were allowed to compete as individual neutral athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics,
01:01as has been the case for the Winter Olympics currently underway in Italy.
01:05Russia's war in Ukraine has been at the centre of the biggest controversy of those Winter Olympics.
01:11Ukrainian skeleton athlete and flag-bearer Vladislav Hereskiewicz was banned from competing
01:16because he wanted to wear a special remembrance helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia's invasion.
01:23Hereskiewicz's lawyer gave this comment to France 24.
01:27A Ukrainian athlete is excluded without a proven violation,
01:30while representatives of aggressor states are gradually regaining full participation in international sport.
01:36This is no longer only a question of law, but of consistency, fairness and humanity in international sport today.
01:45The Winter Paralympics begin on the 6th of March.
01:48The inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their flags
01:52could push other sporting competitions to do the same,
01:55with FIFA President Gianni Infantino having already said that he wants Russia reinstated to international football.
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