Boston Marathon bans runners residing in Russia and Belarus

The Boston Athletic Association announced a ban Wednesday on Russian and Belarusian runners living in their home countries from participating in the 2022 Boston Marathon. 

The ban affects runners from those countries who were previously accepted into the race. Russian and Belarusians who are not residing in their home countries will still be able to run.

However, those same athletes will not be allowed to run with the flag of their home country.

The association will attempt to refund the runners who are no longer able to compete, but will have to work with sanctions currently imposed on Russia and Belarus to do so. Ukrainian runners who can’t go to the marathon due to the war will get a refund or be allowed to compete another year. 

“Like so many around the world, we are horrified and outraged by what we have seen and learned from the reporting in Ukraine,” President & CEO of the group, Tom Grilk, said. “We believe that running is a global sport, and as such, we must do what we can to show our support to the people of Ukraine.”

Russian athletes in various sports have felt the repercussions to the war in Ukraine.

FIFA, the world soccer body, imposed an indefinite ban on Russia from all its competitions, eliminating the country from the World Cup in 2022.

World Taekwondo and the International Judo Federation both took away Russian President Vladimir Putin’s honorary titles in their organizations due to the war.

And the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also banned Russia and Belarus from competitions, saying athletes from those countries can not compete under their flags.