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A medal ceremony at the Milano Cortina Paralympic games turned into a tense standoff this week. In response, the governing body of the games has launched an investigation.
As Reuters reports, the moment occurred after the women’s cross-country sprint classic vision-impaired event, which was won by Russia’s Anastasiia Bagiian and her guide Sergei Siniakin. During the ceremony, German silver medallists Linn Kazmaier and Florian Baumann turned their backs on the Russians and did not remove their hats in protest.
Much like in in the recently wrapped Olympic games, Russia and Belarus were both banned from Paralympic competitions as a result of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted the ban in February, allowing Russian athletes to compete under their own flag for the first time in over a decade.
In an interview with German public broadcasting network ARD, Kazmaier explained that the decision to protest wasn’t aimed at the athletes themselves, but rather their home country. “I don’t know these people: maybe they don’t support the system in Russia either. Maybe they are really nice people who we could actually be friends with. But it’s such a shame that politics overshadows everything…So we decided to keep our hats on and not turn towards the flags, because we don’t support that.”
In another interview with German outlet ZDF, Baumann echoed the sentiment, saying “Four years ago in Beijing, we had a great exchange with the Ukrainians. We wanted to show solidarity with them. This is not about the Russian athletes. It is also difficult for many of them right now, but I simply do not think it is right that the IPC has decided that Russia can compete here under its own flag, with its own anthem and with a full band, while the Ukrainians are also here.”
In response, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has begun an investigation into the protest. “With Germany, we are aware of the situation, gathering evidence and analyzing it,” said IPC chief brand and communications officer Craig Spence.
