The Norwegian Triathlon Union reacted to the fact that the International Triathlon Union has decided to bring Russian and Belarusian athletes to the games again as neutrals.

The international federation has followed the recommendations of the IOC and announced Thursday that they allow Russia and Belarus to compete under a neutral flag. The Norwegian Triathlon Association is among those working for the opposite result.

– We do not agree with the decision. We have tried to influence the decision, and among other things have sent joint statements with several other countries. There are several countries in Northern and Eastern Europe that have called for a different decision. We are also concerned about this with neutral athletes and what the consequences will be, general secretary Gabrielle Bjørnstad-Northern told NTB.

– This is a problem that we have been working on for a long time. We also pushed last fall against Russians and Belarusians not being allowed to participate in the congress in Abu Dhabi. They then went home after we reached an agreement, he added.

More against

According to Bjørnstad-Northern, there are at least ten countries from Europe who disagree with the decision to let Russia and Belarus compete internationally.

– We have worked with the UK, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In addition, Ireland and Ukraine have submitted their own statements, and I think Slovakia did too, he said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) came out at the end of last month with a recommendation to drop Russia and Belarus as neutral again. The prerequisites, among other things, are that they have not supported hostilities in Ukraine or relations with the Russian military.

“The Council has given its support in principle to the IOC’s recommendation that athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports be able to return to international competition, thereby lifting the suspension that had included the country’s participation in World Triathlon events since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” said the International triathlon association.

Engage in dialogue with the IOC

The IOC emphasized in connection with the launch of the recommendations that the decision to open up the participation of Russia and Belarus lies with the international specialized federations.

Now the sport of triathlon has made its decision.

“In principle, the International Triathlon Union supports work to find ways for independent, neutral individual athletes and managers with Russian and Belarusian passports to participate in our sport,” the association wrote.

It further stated that in consultation with the IOC, among other things, they would work to develop a “necessary and independent assessment process” to plan for the athlete concerned to be able to participate in competition again.

The Norwegian Triathlon Association has yet to decide whether to keep Norwegian athletes out of international competition which Russia and Belarus are participating in.

– We haven’t decided on that yet. We’ll be having a board meeting soon.

Some do the same

At the same time, the trade unions express solidarity with Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

Other international specialized federations such as fencing, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling have also indicated that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be included in the heats again. Some have formed groups to see how neutrality should be defined.

The International Equestrian Federation, for its part, has given notice that it is not currently appropriate to follow the recommendations of the IOC.

The International Federation of Athletics Associations has announced ahead of the latest announcement of the Olympic Summit that their line against allowing Russian and Belarusian participation is firm.

(© NTB)