Exclusive: World Athletics president invites Ukrainian president to the Olympics in surprise visit to Kyiv
CNN
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Olympics as his personal guest during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Olympics as his personal guest during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday. “I did use the opportunity to make him absolutely understand that, if he does make it to Paris, then he has an open invitation to watch the number one, the Olympic sport,” meaning athletics, Coe told CNN’s Amanda Davies, who had exclusive TV access to Coe throughout his trip to Ukraine. A two-time Olympic champion, Coe is also a member of the International Olympic Committee. But he’s at odds with the IOC when it comes to their stance on Russian athletes. Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – supported by Belarus – in February 2022, World Athletics is the only Olympic sports federation to have banned all Russian and Belarussian athletes from elite competition. The IOC, on the other hand, has allowed dozens of athletes from those two countries to compete as neutrals at this month’s Paris Games. Zelensky has said “there is no such thing as neutrality when a war like this is going on,” and that “any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood.” Ukraine’s road to the Olympics has been riddled with obstacles. According to the country’s Sports Ministry, more than 500 sports facilities have been destroyed in Russian attacks. Hundreds of athletes have been killed, and many others forced to train abroad.