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2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris

Russian athletes to skip 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony in Paris, says RPC chief

"As for the Closing Ceremony, we will discuss this issue closer to the end of the Games depending on the situation," Pavel Rozhkov said

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Russian athletes will not take part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris this week, Pavel Rozhkov, the president of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), told TASS on Tuesday.

"We will not be at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics, although we have been granted the right to attend as spectators," Rozhkov said. "Some of the athletes have scheduled events the next day, and the [opening] ceremony usually ends late. Not all of our athletes attended this ceremony at the last Paralympics."

"As for the Closing Ceremony, we will discuss this issue closer to the end of the Games depending on the situation," he said. "As for today, our priorities are somewhere else."

The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games will be held in the French capital of Paris between August 28 and September 8. Russian Paralympians will be participating in the 2024 Games under a neutral status.

They were barred from taking part in the Parade of Athletes during the opening and closing ceremonies and also excluded from the 2024 Paralympics overall medal standings.

Earlier in the month, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that 90 Paralympians from Russia were cleared to take part in the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games.

Russia's route to 2024 Paris Paralympics

On March 6, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) published strict eligibility criteria that Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnel must meet and adhere to in order to participate as neutrals at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris.

According to the IPC’s requirements "Neutral athletes will compete under a white flag featuring black lettering spelling out NPA [Neutral Paralympic Athletes]." The IPC also ruled that "NPA will compete as individuals in neutral uniforms under an NPA flag, and will not be able to take part in medals ceremonies or march in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies."

On September 29, 2023, the IPC General Assembly ruled at its session in Bahrain to suspend some of the rights the RPC has within the global organization.

However, the IPC General Assembly cleared Russian athletes to participate under a neutral status in international competition, including at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

In mid-March this year, RPC President Pavel Rozhkov told TASS that Russian Paralympians and accompanying staff would don turquoise and beige at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

"They will wear varying shades of turquoise and beige… In line with the requirements on the neutral status participation of athletes, all national colors are prohibited from being displayed on uniforms and, in our case, this means the white, blue and red colors," Rozhkov said at that time.

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