The participation of Belarusian and Russian athletes in the Olympics is controversial. A tennis duo from Russia ensures success
The tennis duo Mirra Andreyeva (17)/Diana Schnaider (20) has won silver at the Summer Games in Paris, the first medal for the controversial group of Russian athletes. The duo lost 6:2, 1:6, 7:10 in the final against the Italian pairing of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani. The third set was played out as a match tie-break.
Belarusian athletes had previously won three medals. Among them was the Belarusian trampoline gymnast Ivan Litvinovich, who won gold for the group of 32 neutral individual athletes.
Athletes from Belarus and Russia are only allowed to compete at the Olympic Games as neutral individual athletes under the AIN designation. The reason for this is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus.
According to official information, 32 athletes from both countries will be competing in Paris as AINs, 15 of whom come from Russia. The majority of the Russian participants are tennis professionals who also compete in international tournaments on the tennis tour.
All of them had to go through a vetting process beforehand to rule out possible links to the armed forces and security authorities of both countries, among other things. Public support for the war would also have led to exclusion.