Athletes from different continents. Parade ceremonies. 900 volunteers at the service. A pet -Rysia, the lynx- that walks and has fun. Lots of sports, lots of venues. While the government strongly reiterates its support for that of Vladimir Putin, Belarus is organizing an international event with features of Olympism for the first time since 2019, when it hosted the European Games. And for the first time, too, since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Commonwealth of Independent States Games, running since Friday, and ending on August 14, stand out from the global sports scene outlined by the IOC by tolerating the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes representing their flag and both in individual and collective events. Contrary to what will happen at the next Asian Games in Hangzhou 2023, they can win medals in the sports they award.
While the IOC still has no comment on the presence of athletes from the warring countries in Paris 2024, the CIS Games bring together 2,214 competitors (673 Belarusians and 602 Russians) from 22 nations, the nine members of the organization (in addition to the host and from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of them former Soviet) and 13 guests: Egypt, Iran, Cuba, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Malaysia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Malaysia, Oman, Vietnam and Venezuela.
13 of the 20 sports in the program will be in Paris 2024. The three with the greatest Olympic tradition stand out: athletics, swimming and gymnastics (rhythmic), in which the bronze medalist in Tokyo 2020, the local Alina Harnasko, finished second in all around. The bulk of the leaders do not compete in Belarus 2023, largely due to age restrictions in 15 disciplines.
At the impressive opening ceremony, the most salient - and acclaimed - speaker was the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, who shot: “The restrictions and sanctions in international sports are a sign of the weakness and fear of the world establishment.” In addition, he asserted that in his country “Olympic ideals burn with faith; true justice and sporting fraternity” and that “a wonderful environment reigns”. “The time has come to defend the honor of the country, this is our time,” he added.
In the run-up to this second edition, Dmitry Mezentsev, Secretary General of the State Union of Russia and Belarus, had defended inclusion by charging the authorities of sports federations: “Sport is out of politics”, he launched, and emphasized “the open and benevolent relations of Belarus and Russia” towards foreign athletes. The search for openness is also evident in the stands: to attract spectators and populate stadiums, Belarus applied a VISA exemption throughout the month for foreigners from 70 countries. In judo, the Gomel stadium looked full on Saturday.
The Commonwealth of Independent States is based on cooperation between members in matters such as defense, economy, security and sports activity. The organization lost Ukraine long before the Russian invasion in 2022. In 2014, the year Crimea joined Russia, it announced its departure from the organization and in 2018, following the Dombas conflict, its withdrawal ended. Despite not having traveled to Belarus, its athletes will land in Paris.
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