Is Russia competing at the Olympics? Here’s what AIN stands for – NBC Chicago

You won’t see Russia on the 2024 Olympics, and you will not see them on the Opening Ceremony, however Russian athletes shall be competing — they will simply be doing so a special title: AIN.

So why the change and what does AIN stand for?

Russia has been compelled to compete beneath numerous names on the Olympics since 2016, the 12 months a number of Russian athletes had been discovered to concerned in a years-long, state-sponsored doping scheme that noticed them win a set of medals.

The Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Russia in 2017, however a number of Russian athletes who weren’t concerned within the scheme received an attraction to compete. These athletes had been required accomplish that beneath completely different names.

On the 2018 Winter Olympics, Russian athletes who handed drug checks competed beneath the “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” or OAR, delegation.

Throughout the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Russian athletes competed beneath the “Russian Olympic Committee,” or ROC, delegation.

This 12 months, nonetheless, they will have a wholly completely different title.

Here is what to know:

What does AIN stand for?

Russia is not going to compete as ROC in Paris. As a substitute, Russian athletes will fall beneath the Particular person Impartial Athletes delegation, or AIN (IOC nation code after the French title Athlètes Individuels Neutres).

Why did Russia change its title from ROC?

The ROC title really got here to be on the Tokyo Olympics since Russia was banned by the World Anti-Doping Company in 2019 for its state-sponsored doping program.

Russian athletes can compete in Paris, however they have to be authorised to take action.

The identical applies to Belarusian rivals. As of June 15, there have been a mixed 25 Russian and Belarusian athletes who had been authorised to compete in impartial occasions.

The athletes authorised to compete can not use the Russian flag or nationwide anthem all through the Olympics.

Russian and Belarusian athletes are additionally barred from collaborating within the Paris Opening Ceremony.

What number of Russian athletes shall be on the 2024 Olympics?

Russian athletes had been capped at a most of 55, and Belarusian had been capped at 28 — although that is not essentially

“The utmost quantity, which is unlikely to be reached, can be 55 and 28 respectively,” the IOC informed CNN.

For comparability’s sake, Russia had 330 athletes in Tokyo, whereas Belarus had 104.