Es started with curling. It wasn’t just the Paralympic world that was in turmoil at the time, because Russian and Belarusian athletes were surprisingly admitted to the Beijing event, albeit under a neutral flag. The criticism of Wednesday’s decision was immense worldwide, and the lack of understanding was huge. The Paralympics don’t start until this Friday, but the curlers’ group games have already started, and a little later the Latvian team refused to play against the Russians. It was the first of many similar cases. Discussions followed, clear words and finally a change of direction on the part of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The global pressure was too great.
“We underestimated it. With Wednesday’s decision, we were trying to keep the war out of these games,” said IPC spokesman Craig Spence, but found that not only was that impossible, the decision had done the opposite. Suddenly the Paralympics were more in focus than they have ever been in sport. In a way, the decision had brought the ubiquitous war much more into these unopened games.
Less than 24 hours after the controversial decision, the IPC excluded Russia and Belarus from the Paralympics. “The only right decision to hold the games face-saving,” commented Karl Quade, Germany’s chef de mission, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as “catastrophic and a disgrace to the International Paralympic Committee”.
The Russian team will now leave China. At the present time, it is “not worth staying in Beijing” and plans to “leave the Winter Games capital, the city of wonderful people, in the near future,” the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) said on Friday. The departure is also due to the fact that there is no chance of success with a lawsuit at the Cas International Sports Court.
China as host: “Don’t forget and keep silent”
The omens under which this major event is taking place are nevertheless not adequately described with the term “difficult”. Even before Putin’s war, the situation was tense: like the Olympic Games, the Paralympics were overshadowed by the pandemic and discussions about human rights violations in the host country.
Always working for the athletes: Friedhelm Beucher, President of the DBS, speaks at a tribute to the Bundeswehr athletes who took part in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo
What: pa/dpa/Christophe Gateau
“Taking into account the human rights situation, China is a country to which the Olympic and Paralympic Games should not have been awarded,” says Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS). He ruled out a boycott early on, but one should not forget and conceal what is sometimes happening to people and minorities in China. “The decision to award the games there is irreversible,” he says. “But those who have met them must put up with being made aware of it.”
Then, when Vladimir Putin broke the Olympic truce, other issues and fears came to the fore – games in times of war. A situation that will make it difficult for athletes to concentrate on the competitions.
The German Leander Kress tests the Olympic route during training
Quelle: Getty Images/Yifan Ding
It’s hard to imagine that these games will become the highlight of their lives that they should be. “One of the biggest challenges we’ve ever had in connection with the Paralympics lies ahead of us,” says Beucher.
Sport must also fulfill its responsibilities
The 75-year-old had made a clear statement before the IPC decision on Wednesday, called for the exclusion of Russian athletes from WELT and campaigned for this at the IPC. The admission of the neutral flag athletes then left him horrified. It was “disappointing and despondent,” he said. “In the event of a war, we cannot understand the use of a set of rules that does not take into account the observance of the Olympic and Paralympic peace and, in our opinion, it is wrong. In such a situation, moral and political decisions are needed, not legal ones.”
The Olympic ceasefire resolution is not a relic of antiquity, but was signed by 193 member states of the UN General Assembly in December and requires compliance with the ceasefire from seven days before the start of the Winter Olympics on February 4th to seven days after the end of the Paralympics on February 21st . March. Karl Quade also became clear. “I am deeply ashamed of this decision,” said the Chef de Mission. “It is incomprehensible that the IPC makes a completely different decision than the vast majority of the sports world.”
After Russia’s jubilation, Germany’s chef de mission is fighting back tears
Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the Paralympics. Germany’s Chef de Mission Karl Quade was deeply dismayed after the decision was announced and fought back tears.
Source: Team Germany Paralympics
On Monday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that all world federations and organizers of sporting events should no longer allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials to take part in international competitions.
The DBS and the German Olympic Sports Confederation supported it. “Global sanctions in all areas of society are all the more effective the more social actors participate,” it said in a statement. The goal of ending the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible justifies this step, although it also affects athletes who are not responsible for this war. “Sport must also fulfill its responsibility here and accept the corresponding restrictions,” it said.
Relief and a little bit of hope
Where the exclusion is not possible at short notice or for legal reasons, the IOC recommends that the athletes should not be allowed to compete with their flag or anthem, but as neutral athletes or teams – only a few associations decided to do so. And the IPC. However, the force of the negative reactions was not expected there. “It was a very rapid escalation that we didn’t expect,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons. Several associations, teams and athletes have threatened to boycott the games, which would have jeopardized the Paralympics. He also described the situation in the athletes’ villages as unsustainable. What should be a place of togetherness is now a powder keg.
The writing covered with tape: two Russian athletes on the morning of March 3rd. At that point they should start as neutral athletes
Quelle: dpa/Thomas Lovelock For Ois
“At the IPC, we firmly believe that sport and politics should not be mixed up. But through no fault of our own, war has now come to these Games, and behind the scenes, many governments are influencing our cherished event,” Parsons said. That doesn’t sound like real conviction, though. He addressed the 71 Russian and 12 Belarusian athletes who now have to leave. “We see that you are affected by the decisions your governments made last week,” Parsons said. “They are victims of the actions of their governments.”
At the German Disabled Sports Association, the IPC’s concession, which is thus following the will of the majority of the national committees and the athletes, provides relief. “The first decision shocked us and threw a dark light on these games,” says Beucher. It was then again expressed “that we stand up for peace together and want peaceful games that are not overshadowed by the participation of athletes from countries that are actively at war at this time”. The about-face is also linked to the hope that things will calm down a bit and that the Paralympics can still be a celebration of athletes with disabilities in times of war.
17 German athletes and five guides will compete, including the 15-year-old visually impaired biathlete and cross-country skier Linn Kazmaier. She is one of nine debutants in a team in transition. “I hope,” says the Chef de Mission Quade, “that a basis has now been created so that fair competitions can take place and the athletes can send a sign of peace.”
Last training sessions: Linn Kazmaier, Germany’s youngest starter, with her guide Florian Baumann in Zhangjiakou
Quelle: Getty Images/Lintao Zhang
