Russia’s first group of Paralympians arrive in Paris for 2024 Summer Paralympics

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. A first group of Russian athletes has arrived in Paris for the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, Pavel Rozhkov, the president of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), told TASS on Wednesday.
“The first group of Russia’s neutral-status Paralympians has arrived in Paris,” Rozhkov said. “The group included swimmers with musculoskeletal and intellectual disabilities, as well as two track and field athletes,” Rozhkov said.
“Their travel flight was standard and they have already received their luggage at the airport and are set to head to the Paralympic Village,” the RPC head stated.
“A second group of athletes – track and fielders, triathletes, visually impaired swimmers and tennis players – are on their way to Paris at the moment,” Rozhkov continued. “They are expected to arrive this night [on Wednesday].”
“Thirty more [Russian] athletes would set off on August 22 to the Olympics capital in France,” he added.
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.
Last week, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that 90 Paralympians from Russia were cleared to take part in the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games.
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.