Athletes from Russia and Belarus set to participate in Hangzhou Asian Games

Close to 500 athletes from two countries will take part.

The Russian and Belarusian athletes are set to be allowed to compete at the Asian Games 2022 set to be held from 23 September to 06 October, 2023 in Hangzhou, China. Close to 500 athletes across the two nations will be allowed to compete, which will ultimately help them qualify for next year's Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, the governing bodies of 31 sports programme for Paris 2024 will announce a final decision separately as to allowing the athletes to participate in their specified sport. Also if the the Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate, they will not be eligible for medals rather will be eyeing for the Paris Olympics quota. Further they will be playing under a neutral flag and neither the national symbols nor the national anthems will be allowed.

The Russian and Belarusian athletes were largely banned from international competition following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Both the countries upon the intervention of IOC (International Olympic Committee) were allowed to participate in certain competitions but under some conditions - absence of national flags, symbols and national anthems.

The prospect of Russian and Belarusian athletes taking part in the Asian Games first emerged in January this year as the IOC wanted them to compete at the Paris Olympics. Both countries are also not allowed to take part in the European qualifiers making things more complicated for the qualification.

With Russia and Belarus competing for Asian Olympic spot, the quota for Asian countries might get reduced in certain sports. Although there is no clarification on which sports the two countries are going to take part in but in the end it will ultimately affect the quota places for the Asian countries. On the other hand, certain sports might see good competition for eg - shooting which the Russians are strong at.