Latvia considering boycott of Olympics if Russia participates

Latvia is considering a boycott of next year’s Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and its partner Belarus are allowed to compete in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Various governments in Europe, including Latvia, have condemned the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) attempt to sanction athletes from Russia and Belarus, and Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Games. The National Olympic Committees, however, have remained tight-lipped about sending their teams.

“If the Olympic Games are held now and players from Russia and Belarus are allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, the Latvian team will not compete,” Latvian Olympic Committee President Georgs Tickmars said on Latvian public television on Monday. The IOC, however, did not react to this. Tickmars himself was a silver medalist in rowing for the Soviet Union at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Many countries, including the US, boycotted the Games in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Latvia, which shares a border with Russia, gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and is a supporter of Ukraine. The Latvia team is the defending Olympic champion in men’s ‘3 on three’ basketball. The team defeated the Russian team in the gold medal match at the Tokyo 2021 Games.