PARIS, France — Throughout the Parade of Nations on Friday night, some international locations had been lacking from the Paris Olympic Video games Opening Ceremony.

Russia, which beforehand recognized as ROC for the Russian Olympic Committee, was banned by the Worldwide Olympic Committee’s govt board from competing within the Olympic Video games in October 2023 as a consequence of its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

As an alternative, athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete as Particular person Impartial Athletes or AINs. In French, the nation code interprets to Athlètes Individuels Neutres. This summer time, there are 17 Belarusian and 15 Russian AINs competing within the 2024 Olympics. 

For the Paris Olympic Video games, the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) established a quota for every sport of impartial athletes, together with “strict eligibility situations,” in December final yr. 

Athletes awarded impartial standing should compete with out their nationwide id of flag, anthem or nation colours, in response to the IOC.

Previous to the ban, Russia debuted on the Tokyo Olympics beneath ROC, or the Russian Olympic Committee. In 2016, Russia was compelled to compete beneath completely different group names as a consequence of a doping scheme.

The Summer season Olympic Video games started Wednesday, July 24, and competitions run by Sunday, Aug. 11. 

This story contains reporting by the Related Press.