A number of Russian athletes, including Tokyo doubles gold medallist Andrey Rublev and tennis players Daria Kasatkina and Anna Kalinskaya, are among those who have refused to go to Paris because they cannot represent their country under their own name, anthem and flag, but must do so as neutrals (due to the sanctions imposed on Belarus over the war in Ukraine).

Together with them, another nine Russian and Belarusian athletes (nine in total so far) have declined invitations to compete as neutrals at the Paris Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) published an updated list of neutral athletes last Monday, which includes 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev.

Ekaterina Alexandrova, ranked 22nd in the world, is another athlete who has agreed to compete under a neutral flag at the thirty-third modern Olympic Games.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow's closest ally in the war in Ukraine, are excluded from the Paris Games, except for the few who will compete as neutral athletes without flags or anthems.

The athletes have been carefully screened by an IOC panel to ensure they have no links to the military and have not made statements supporting the war in Eastern Europe.

Russia has condemned the restrictions as discriminatory. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the IOC was "descending into racism and neo-Nazism".

The head of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, said last month that Rublev would skip the Games for health reasons. Tokyo 2020 singles silver medallist Karen Khachanov and Liudmila Samsonova had already turned down the opportunity to play.

US-based Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who won doubles gold and singles bronze at London 2012, has accepted the invitation.

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, also from Belarus, has yet to accept or decline, but she withdrew from Wimbledon on Monday with a shoulder injury, leaving her future uncertain beyond whether or not she will attend the Paris Games.

Gymnast Ivan Litvinovich, who won trampoline gold for Belarus in Tokyo three years ago, and Russian canoeist Alexey Korovashkov, bronze medallist in London, are also among the athletes who have accepted the IOC's invitations.

The invitations are not free, but must be accompanied by results or qualifying rankings, as in the case of tennis. As far as the tennis rankings and other disciplines are concerned, there have been no major inconveniences, as the athletes have been able to compete under normal conditions, but there have been Olympic qualifying tournaments in which they have not been allowed to participate, thus cutting off their right to qualify (beyond the necessary subsequent IOC invitation).

The Paris Olympic Games will be held from 24 July, although they will officially begin on 26 July with the Opening Ceremony on the Seine in Paris. The Closing Ceremony will be held on 11 August, marking the end of the third Olympic Games in the history of the French capital.