BEIJING — Organizers of the Beijing Winter Paralympics will allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete when the Games open this week, despite mounting pressure to exclude Russia and its teams from global sports as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
The executive board of the International Paralympic Committee, which organizes the Games, declared that the Russian and Belarusian athletes would compete as neutrals and any medals they won would not be counted in the Games’ medal table. The affected athletes instead will compete under the Paralympic flag, and were ordered to cover any flags or logos identifying their countries that appear on their uniforms.