Dominik Hašek condemns Paris Olympics over participation of Russian athletes

The Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics take place on Friday in Paris. There will be no Russian or Belarusian athletes in the parade of nations and their respective National Olympic Committees have been banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war. However, 32 athletes from those countries will participate without flags in various sports during these Olympic Games as “Individual Neutral Athletes.”

For former Czech goaltender Dominik Hašek – whose Olympic performance in Nagano in 1998 was the crowning moment of his highly decorated career – this isn’t good enough. He tweeted:

The Olympics officially start today. I have my fingers crossed for all our athletes and wish them luck and pride in representing our country. Unfortunately, many Russian athletes who have never (officially) condemned the Russian imperialist war and Russian crimes can participate in the Olympic Games. Their participation (public appearance) will be a huge advertisement for the actions of the Russian country, including the Russian war and Russian crimes. And the Olympics in Paris have and will have direct responsibility for many lost human lives.

In no way do I blame the athletes (not even the Russian ones). You don't set the rules.

I blame it and the responsibility for it lies with the French legislators who allowed Russian citizens to speak publicly on their territory. I blame the officials of the IOC, who could have banned this war advertisement. And I also blame the members of the EU parliament, who could have (I think) banned the entry and public appearance of Russian citizens on EU territory.

These particular people have and will have direct responsibility for the lives lost in Russia’s imperialist war in Ukraine.

Hašek’s stance is of no surprise to anyone who follows his X (Twitter) account. For over two years, he has been consistent in his stance that Russians should be barred from all sports organizations, including the NHL, unless they publicly condemn their country’s actions in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, his tweet about Pavel Datsyuk’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame followed a similar train of thought:

It’s still uncertain whether Russian or Belarusian athletes will be permitted to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy. However, the Belarusian hockey team won’t be able to qualify, as they are still banned from participating in IIHF events and the final round of men’s qualifying is next month. The Russian men’s and women’s teams wouldn’t have to qualify due to their IIHF World Rankings – second and sixth, respectively. However, if the IOC maintains similar restrictions as in Paris, their participation as teams wouldn’t be possible as only individual athletes are permitted.