Dr. Alice Němcová Tejkalová
Head of Journalism Department in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. Her research interests are in journalism studies and sports journalism. Since 2019, she has been a regional co-coordinator for Central & Eastern Europe in Worlds of Journalism Study. She authored numerous articles and book chapters and serves as the Czech Olympic Committee’s Equal Opportunities in Sport Commission’s Vice-Chair.
Email: alice.tejkalova@fsv.cuni.cz
Twitter: @antejkalova
Politicians and presidents of sporting bodies often claim that politics should not be brought into sports. Sometimes athletes, fans, and even journalists echo this sentiment. In fact, these two are inseparable. In the past, we have witnessed critical political gestures and societal changes that have started to unroll during the mega sports events, namely the Olympic Games. The 2024 Paris Olympics were crucial for Ukraine to raise international awareness of its challenging situation differently than through the tragic stories, causing reportedly news avoidance and news fatigue in some audiences (Reuters Institute, 2023). The Ukrainian athletes (they got 12 medals, 3 of them were gold) did not miss a single opportunity to use it positively in any interview. The Media also covered the stories of athletes unable to compete in Paris due to being in the Ukrainian army, killed in the war or having their sporting dreams shattered due to it.
One of the most closely watched and mediated causes preceding the 2024 Paris Olympics has been the inclusion or exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes due to these two states’ invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia as a country was already banned in 2017 because of doping rules’ systematic violation, with the extension for another four years in 2019. The International Olympic Committee’s decision from December 2023 that qualified athletes from Russia and Belarus who “have not acted against the peace mission of the Olympic Movement by actively supporting the war in Ukraine” may participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics raised many objections. Ukraine and Russia criticized the decision, even though, logically, for different reasons. Sports federations, which previously banned the Russian and Belarusian athletes from their competitions, stuck to it, and the athletes competed in only 12 sports in Paris under the abbreviation AIN, Individual Neutral Athletes.
Unfortunately, according to Politico, several athletes, including medalists in Paris (AIN gained five medals), have not complied with the IOC’s rules and supported a war against Ukraine. Still, the athletes from AIN have been in isolation during the whole Games, and their position at home may also be fragile. AP or Euro Newswrote that Russian media do not cover the 2024 Paris Olympics or write negatively about it. As AP reminded, the last time Soviet TV was not broadcasting the Olympics was in 1984 when the Soviet Union and a majority of states from the Eastern Bloc boycotted the Games in Los Angeles. The athletes starting as the AIN were called “traitors” back home in Russia (this criticism was one of the reasons why some qualified athletes declined the invitations to start in Paris).
Medals for those who cannot be here
On the other hand, Ukrainian athletes have been at the center of attention, supported by many fellow athletes and the media. During the opening ceremony, the Ukrainian flag was borne by tennis star Elina Svitolina, one of the most visible Ukrainian athletic ambassadors. Even though she did not win any medal at these Games, due to her celebrity and previous notoriety, strong news values, her stance and support for her country’s case were mediated worldwide. A fencer, Olga Kharlan (who in the past refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent at the World Championships in 2023 and almost was not competing in Paris), was the first Ukrainian athlete to get the medal in Paris (bronze in sabre event) and dedicated it to “all the Ukrainian athletes ‘who couldn’t come here because they were killed by Russia’”. The same did another Olympic winner in Paris, high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Kharlan, already a four-time Olympic medalist before Paris, added the first Ukrainian medal on the table and strongly contributed to the gold one in the team sabre event, becoming the most decorated Ukrainian athlete at these Games. It brought her the most media attention, which she used to highlight her country’s cause. In the interviews after winning a gold medal, she dedicated it to all of Ukraine, especially its troops fighting for its freedom.
There were other strong mediated stories published because of the 2024 Paris Olympics, e.g., an NBC document, “Fighting for Olympic Gold: Ukraine’s Athletes at War”, featuring former rower Volodymyr Dzubinskij who voluntarily enlisted in 2022, lost his leg on the front and has been fighting for his place in Ukrainian Paralympic Team after that. Some media decided to support the Ukrainian athletes, even when referring to AIN ones; CBS started one of its online articles directly with a video about Ukrainian karate medalist from the Tokyo Games, Stanislav Horuna, who has been fighting on the frontline.
When scrolling through all the media coverage, it is evident that the decision of the Ukrainian government not to force the athletes to boycott the Olympic qualifications (or even the Games), where also Russian and Belarusian athletes were competing, was a good one. Otherwise, the already tortured country would be stripped of its sports pride and the possibility to positively represent its case for worldwide audiences in other than “tiring” political columns.
