Olympic bans and boycotts go back a century

By The Associated Press

Ukraine and the three Baltic countries have moved a step closer to boycotting next year’s Paris Olympics because of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The International Olympic Committee plans to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete as “neutral athletes” despite their invasion of Ukraine. The Olympic body says it can’t discriminate athletes based on their citizenship. But countries have been excluded in the past. The Olympics also have a history of countries choosing to boycott rather than compete against athletes they believed should not have been invited.