A Tale of Two Teams

Day 4: The Refugee Olympic Team and the Individual Neutral Athletes

Jul 29, 2024

There are 206 teams competing at the 2024 Summer Games, but they represent only 204 countries. The IOC has banned two nations - Russia and Belarus, and included two teams without national affiliation - The Refugee Olympic Team and the Individual Neutral Athletes.

The Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) is making its third Olympic appearance, following Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. It was created in 2016 as a symbol of hope to the 120 million global refugees, and an Olympic home for athletes who have fled their home nation. The Paris 2024 team has 37 athletes from 11 countries including break dancer Manizha Talash, who fled her home in Afghanistan when the Taliban banned dancing in 2021.

Manizha Talash — *(Isabel Belen Guarco)*

When the International Olympic Committee banned Russia and Belarus for their aggression against Ukraine, they also created the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in order to for Olympians from those countries to still compete in Paris - so long as they meet strict requirements.

In total, 32 Russian and Belarusian individual athletes will compete under the AIN banner (no team sport entrants were permitted), including former world number one tennis player Daniil Medvedev. Medals those athletes earn will not count toward any team’s total, nor will their home country flags or anthems be used. Fans will also not be allowed to display those flags.

But like any good compromise, no one is totally happy - Russia is unhappy that their Federation has been banned and that Russian athletes will not be able to compete under their own flag, while the Ukrainian Olympic team is not happy that any Russian competitors have been allowed.

What To Watch Today

(All times Eastern. Full event relays available on-demand on Peacock)

Nearly 20 Gold Medals will be handed out today in 11 sports, including five in the pool.

There are preliminary heats in only (to our knowledge) Olympic event featuring a passenger - Rowing Eights, and two tennis GOATS do battle on the clay of Roland Garros. Team USA is in action across the city in Women’s Rugby, Water Polo, and Basketball.

3:30 am - Shooting: 10m Air Rifle Women's Final 🥇 🇺🇸
5:00 am - Diving: Men's Synchronised 10m Platform Final 🥇
5:00 am - Equestrian: Eventing Team Jumping Final 🥇
5:40 am - Rowing: Men’s and Women’s Eights Heats 🇺🇸
6:00 am - Shooting: 10m Air Rifle Men's Final 🥇
7:30 am - Tennis: Men’s Singles 2nd Round, Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal
7:30 am - Tennis: Women’s Singles 2nd Round, Coco Gauff vs Maria Lourdes Carle 🇺🇸
8:10 am - Mountain Biking: Men's Cross-country 🥇
9:00 am - Equestrian: Eventing Individual Jumping Final 🥇
9:30 am - Rugby 7’s: Women’s Pool Play, USA vs France 🇺🇸
9:35 am - Water Polo: Women's Preliminary Round, USA vs Spain 🇺🇸
10:00 am – Judo: Women’s <57kg and Men’s <73kg 🥇 🥇
10:48 am - Archery: Men's Team Medal Matches 🥇
11:00 am - Skateboarding: Men’s Street Final (rescheduled) 🥇
11:20 am - Canoe Slalom: Men's Canoe Single Final 🥇
11:30 am - Gymnastics: Men's Team Final 🥇
2:30 pm - Swimming: Women's 400m IM, Men's 200m Freestyle, Men's 100m Backstroke, Women's 100m Breaststroke, & Women's 200m Freestyle Final 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
3:00 pm - Basketball: Women’s Group Play, USA vs Japan 🇺🇸
3:45 pm - Fencing: Women's Sabre Individual and Men's Foil Individual Gold Medal Bouts 🥇 🥇