MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The Russian Ministry of Sports has proposed to reward Russian tennis players Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider with a 2.5 million ruble (some $25,600) bonus each for winning silver medals at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Russia’s official web portal of legal information reported in a statement on Monday.

The Russian tennis duo, competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a neutral status, was defeated in the final match of the 2024 Summer Games by a pair from Italy - Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (6:2; 1:6; 7:10).

Under the proposal, Andreeva and Shnaider’s coaches would be awarded two million rubles (over $20,470) each, while accompanying members of their training staff would be paid 500,000 rubles each (some $5,120).

Andreeva, 17, has won one WTA title so far in her budding tennis career. Earlier this year she reached the semifinals of the 2024 French Open. Last year, in Grand Slams she reached the 3rd round of the French Open, made it all the way to the 4th round at Wimbledon and then battled her way into Round 2 of the US Open. In 2023, the WTA named Andreeva the rookie of the year.

Shnaider is 20 years old, currently ranked 18th in the WTA Rankings. Shnaider has three WTA titles to her name, winning all of them during the current season. Earlier in the year, she made it to Round 3 of the prestigious Wimbledon tournament.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games were hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed a team of 15 Russian athletes to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics as neutrals.

Of the 15 Russian athletes who agreed to go to Paris and participate in the Olympics under a neutral status, Andreeva and Shnaider were the only ones to medal at the Games.

The Russian team’s lineup for the 2024 Olympics included tennis players Daniil Medvedev, Pavel Kotov, Roman Safiullin, Yekaterina Alexandrova, Mirra Andreeva, Diana Shnaider, Yelena Vesnina; canoeists Zakhar Petrov, Alexey Korovashkov, Olesya Romasenko; swimmer Yevgeny Somov; cyclists Tamara Dronova, Alyona Ivanchenko, Gleb Syritsa; and Anzhela Bladtseva, who competed in the trampoline event.

Team USA won the most medals at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games with 126 (40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze). China was second with with 91 medals (40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze) and Japan was third with 45 medals (20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze).

IOC’s regulations against Russia

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics overall medal standings.

The IOC, however, ruled that Russian athletes, cleared to participate in the 2024 Olympics, would not have to sign anything denouncing their country’s special military operation in Ukraine.

On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.