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As hundreds of athletes from around the world prepared for the first day of the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing on Friday, 71 athletes from Russia were preparing to return home.
Following the decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – after initially allowing them to participate as “neutral” – the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) announced on Friday that is preparing to leave China and will not appeal the decision.
ATHLETES FROM RUSSIA, BELARUS Banned by PARALYMPIC GAMES, PROTESTS THREATEN “VISIBILITY”, says IPC
“The Russian Paralympic Committee and its athletes do not currently consider it possible or appropriate to stay in Beijing and plan to leave the capital of the Winter Games, the city of wonderful people, in the near future,” RPC told Reuters.
Fireworks are seen as the Olympic cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics at the Beijing National Stadium on March 4 (Photo by Wang He / Getty Images for the International Paralympic Committee)
According to the report, Russia will not appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as IPC rules give it the power to “deny entry to any athlete without giving reasons.”
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The organization announced on Thursday that athletes from Russia and Belarus will no longer be eligible to participate in Beijing as protests by other nations “threaten the viability” of the Games.
BEIJING, CHINA – MARCH 2: President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons speaks at an IPC press conference at the Main News Center on March 2, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Wang He / Getty Images for the International Paralympic Committee)
The IPC withdrew just one day after confirming that Russian athletes competing under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and Belarus will be eligible to compete but not under their flag and will also not be included in the the official medal table.
Russia condemned the IPC’s decision on Thursday, calling it a “disgrace”.
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The Paralympic flag was hoisted along with the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games in 2022 at the Beijing National Stadium on March 4, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)
“The situation is monstrous, of course. It is a disgrace to the International Paralympic Committee,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters. “We strongly condemn the International Paralympic Committee for this decision.”
Dozens of Belarusian athletes have also been banned from competitions.