The march of the athletes during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: AFP or licensors
Russian and Belarusian track and field athletes are “unlikely” to be able to compete at the 2024 Olympics, says World Athletics president Lord Coe.
World Athletics has banned competitors from the two countries from its events, including under a neutral flag, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has said athletes should be able to compete as neutrals.
However, Lord Coe said World Athletics’ position was “very clear”.
He was speaking in Budapest before the World Athletics Championships which start this week, having been re-elected for a third and final term as head of track and field’s governing body alongside a new council.
The IOC has not made a final call for the Olympics, and can only give broad recommendations – meaning individual sports can still choose to enforce bans.
“The new council, and I’m not going to speak for them in advance, but I would be very surprised if there is any shift in that position,” Lord Coe said.
The two-time British Olympic champion, 66, has led World Athletics, formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations, since 2015.
When World Athletics announced its ban in March, he said “unprecedented sanctions” on Russia and Belarus by “countries and industries” are the “only way to restore peace”.
Speaking on Thursday, Lord Coe added: “I don’t have a crystal ball, I follow world events in the same way that you all do.
“We have risk committees, we have working groups that will always be wanting to be across that and what might the circumstances look like if there’s any shift in the situation but I have to say that looks unlikely at the moment with where we are with events in Ukraine.”
The IOC has been criticised for saying it is “exploring a pathway” for Russian and Belarusians to compete, with the United Kingdom among more than 30 countries to pledge support for a ban.
It updated its stance last month, saying it was still fine-tuning plans for the Olympics next summer.
Lord Coe’s third term in charge of World Athletics will run until 2027 after he was re-elected unopposed, while he has refused to rule out a bid for the IOC presidency in 2025.
“I genuinely haven’t ruled it in or certainly haven’t ruled it out,” he said.
“My primary objective was to make sure we had the best possible council, the strongest executive board to complete the work that I set out in 2015.”
He said over his term he wanted to lead a “really significant shift” in the way the sport is presented to keep up with changing audiences.
-Reuters
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