Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya Secure Medals

Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, trampoline gymnasts from Belarus have won Olympic medals in gold and silver. However, the official medal table will not list these achievements. Belarus’s suspension for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led them to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as AINs if they meet specific criteria including not actively supporting the war or having connections with military or security agencies.

The IOC removes these athletes’ national symbols including flags and anthems and excludes their achievements from the official medal standings. Litvinovich, who defended his title on Friday, did not experience the traditional national pride of hearing his country’s anthem. Instead, the IOC played a song without lyrics and the AIN flag was raised. Despite the absence of national symbols, Litvinovich received a congratulatory message from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who praised him on his official website.

When a reporter asked about his past support for Lukashenko, Ivan Litvinovich avoided the topic and shifted the focus to his sport. He expressed a desire to compete under his own flag and anthem in future Olympics. Bardzilouskaya, who won silver behind Great Britain’s Bryony Page also received congratulations from the Belarusian Olympic Committee which the IOC does not recognize. Russian athletes including Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider compete as AINs in tennis.

The IOC allowed these athletes to participate as neutrals after imposing a ban following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This marks the fourth consecutive Olympics where Russian athletes have competed under a neutral designation, continuing sanctions from previous doping scandals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized this arrangement, arguing that it undermines the conflict’s severity.