Former world number one and Olympic mixed doubles champion Victoria Azarenka, from Belarus, will not compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the press service of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reports.
The IOC statement said the Belarusian athlete initially accepted the invitation to participate in the 2024 Games in neutral status, but later rejected it.
Earlier it was reported that Azarenka would not play at Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury.
Belarusian Tennis Federation President Sergei Rutenko told that Aryna Sabalenka will also not participate in the Paris Olympics, despite her admission.
In February 2022, the IOC recommended that sports federations not allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in international tournaments. Later, the recommendations were softened, and in December 2023, IOC chief Thomas Bach said that the organization would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who had passed the selection process to the 2024 Summer Games in an individual neutral status. The athletes will be able to perform in Paris without a flag, anthem, and other national symbols.
The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024. The tennis tournament will be held on clay courts.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
