by Ian Proud, Strategic Culture:

I applaud the French Government on its delivery of a fabulous Olympiad in Paris. I have but one criticism. In 2021, the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger” was changed with the addition of one word – “together”. Excluding Russia from Paris 2024 eroded the sense of togetherness. It also breached the noble Olympic ideal of keeping sport and culture out of politics.

Banning Russia from the Olympics won’t turn Russian people against Vladimir Putin; he remains as strong as ever, two and a half years into a grinding war in Ukraine. The ordinary Russians that I came to know when I served at the British Embassy in Moscow loved sports, the opportunity to meet and compete with people from different countries, and welcomed me as an equal. A ban merely confirms to them what Putin has been saying for many years, that the west is intent on Russia’s isolation and destruction.