Olympics|A Ukrainian journalist followed several Russian athletes on social media.
In total 32 Russian and Belarusian athletes competed at the Paris Olympics under a neutral flag.
The Russian and Belarusian teams were not eligible for the Games due to the war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022 and supported by Belarus.
However, the number of athletes could have been higher without the Ukrainian reporter Artem Khudolievin act, says CNN who interviewed him at the time of the Paris Olympics.
Khudolieev told CNN that he already knew after the start of the war that Russia wanted the Paris Games. The Ukrainian journalist didn’t want that to happen, so he started following Russian and Belarusian athletes on social media. He saved all the pro-war and pro-Vladimir Putin images and updates he could find, which he reported to international sports federations.
“I felt I had to do something. Evil must be punished,” Khudolieyev told CNN.
With Khudolieyev there is no exact information on how many athletes were barred from the Olympics based on the information he provided. Russian taekwondo Vladislav Larin published a video on social media in which he asked people for donations to provide ammunition and medicine to Russian soldiers “defending their homeland”.
Khudolieyev captured the video and forwarded it. Larin won gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, but he had no business going to Paris. The same happened to another taekwondo player, to Maksim Hramtsovwho congratulated Putin on his 70th birthday and pledged his love for the Russian leader.
“I’m sure it was because of my information because there was no other evidence. I consider it a victory that they didn’t make it to the Olympics because they admitted to supporting the war,” Khudolieyev said.
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