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President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadym Guttsait insisted that Russian and Belarusian athletes “do not exist” for Team Ukraine.
Russia and Belarus are banned from competing in the Olympics due to International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctions regarding their involvement in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, in December the IOC confirmed that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to complete as neutrals at Paris 2024 – Individual Neutral Athletes (INA) – under strict eligibility conditions.
Those restrictions include competing under a neutral flag and anthem, while athletes and support personnel who actively support the war in Ukraine remain banned.
Guttsait opened a press conference thanking soldiers for their defence of Ukraine and describing the experience of Ukrainian athletes training for Paris.
When asked how Team Ukraine would prepare to face Russian athletes, Guttsait declared that for them, Russian and Belarusian athletes “do not exist”.
He said: “All the athletes in the Olympic Village have had the impact by Russia and war in Ukraine so they all know what’s going on right now in our country.
“All the Ukrainian athletes who are now in the Olympic Village have now felt the war themselves.
“Some of them lost their families, or part of their families, relatives. Some of them lost friends and close people, so, for us, the Russian and Belarusian athletes do not exist.
“We don’t greet them, we don’t say hello and we don’t look at them.”
However, Guttsait stressed that it is important his athletes do not get “provoked” by others.
“Our victory is that we show the world our opinion competing with Russian athletes,” he said.
“I want to admit one more time, I will never wish anyone to feel how it feels to be in Ukraine right now.
“During the Olympic Games for us it is most important not to get provoked by other athletes and this is what I’m telling to all my athletes.”
Among those speaking alongside Guttsait was four-time Olympic fencing medallist Olha Kharlan.
Kharlan was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for refusing to shake the hand of a Russian opponent Anna Smirnova.
Reflecting on the incident, she said: “What happened to me in Milan last summer, it was a tough situation of course, unfair.
“For me after that it was a call. First of all, to not shake hands, it was a message to all the world that rules have to be changed.
“It was also a message to all the world about what happened in my country, in Ukraine, that nobody can just close their eyes to that.
“For me, after that it was my goal to go to an Olympics with the team, since I had a wildcard from Thomas Bach and the International Olympic Committee.
“It was my goal to go with the team and we made it, I hope for the best for my team.”
