THEMA:

RUSSIA'S RETURN IS A POLITICAL ACT

There's nothing like having a leadership and a membership of the ruling Paralympic class that votes for the Russian flag to fly once more alongside the Five Rings even though only the ghost of Goebbels and Pravda would suggest that they'd all left no stone unturned in their efforts to keep politics out of the realm.

Red bleeds from the flags returned and rings tainted in Milano-Cortina this evening: it's the colour of blood, the blood of almost 700 sportsmen and women from Ukraine, for example, not to mention the minimum counts of 15,000+ dead and 40,000 wounded civilians in Ukraine; 200,000+ dead and half a million+ wounded Ukrainian soldiers; 350,000+ dead and 1.2 million+ wounded among Russian soldiers.

As of February 2026, just shy of 6 million refugees from Ukraine, around 5.3 million of them residing in Europe, have been recorded outside their country because its under attack. In addition to those living abroad, about 3.7 million Ukrainians are displaced within Ukraine, many with no home to return to.

Under such circumstances, Olympic reasoning fades to excuse when we are asked to nod as an athlete bearing the images of dead fellow Ukrainian athletes on his helmet at the Winter Olympics is disqualified from action on the basis that there are (paraphrasing various references):

• '... many conflicts in the world, and we don't want them all protesting (NB: there was no sign of all those folk or even a small number of athletes linked to conflict zones wishing or intending to do so), so ... best stick to the Rule 50 we ignore at will and have no protests from athletes when the super troupers are switched on to max, but we will allow Russians and Belorussians to compete even as Putin continues to violate the Olympic Truce, and we will do and say nothing when Donald Trump and his U.S. administration go to 'war' (as the American Secretary of State for War in the 'Department of War' puts it) during the Olympic Truce':

‘Conflict in the Middle East’, ‘the situation’: the shameful Olympic silence

What is the status of the Olympic Truce right now? Does anyone remember it? IOC Napoleon Thomas Bach once wanted to unite divided Korea at the Winter Games and dreamed of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. His chosen successor, Kirsty Coventry, remains silent in these days of war, of course.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

Add to that paraphrasing the flags, officials and athletes in Milan who have direct links to the Russian Duma and/or military and we come face to face with the offensive, distasteful, obnoxious, even repulsive, repugnant, appalling, reprehensible, nauseating and noxious mood Muzak emanating from the IPC.

Let's be clear, the principle of keeping politics at bay so that international sport can continue in an atmosphere of unity, common cause, including human friendships that transcend and survive wars, is a sound one. We also know that Olympic and now Paralympic leaders have embraced politics like long-lost friends down the decades - and continue to do so, and sometimes in ways that have torched the Olympic Charter to cinders.

The IPC has joined the list of those who have made serious missteps when saying 'no politics' but diving deep into political waters. Here's why...