Olympics 2018:30 Russians at Paralympics as “neutral athletes”

Despite Russia’s exclusion from the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang (9. till 18. Due to the state doping affair, the IPC is inviting 30 specially reviewed athletes from the banned country to South Korea as “Neutral Paralympic Athletes”.

According to an IPC announcement, the NPA team consists of ten alpine skiers, twelve cross-country skiers, three snowboarders and a five-man team for the wheelchair curling tournament.

The active participants will be accompanied by six assistants for the competitions of the visually impaired. 39 other officials complete the NPA delegation, which will start under a neutral flag.

Unlike the IOC at the end of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the IPC does not make any concessions beyond inviting demonstrably “clean” players to Russia.

Despite its Russian ban, the IOC had allowed the 169 formally neutral athletes from the country to participate under the Olympic flag as “Olympic athletes from Russia”. As Russia continued to be present at the Winter Games, at least as a term, despite the huge doping scandal, the IOC had to accept a lot of criticism.