Victoria Azarenka latest confirmed for Paris Olympics alongside Mirra Andreeva as Rublev and Medvedev snub invites

Former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka has been announced as a participant at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. The Belarusian will be competing as a Neutral Athlete, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes were initially banned from competing at the Olympic Games. However, the IOC subsequently changed their policy, allowing citizens from the aforementioned countries to compete at the Olympics. These players would not be able to represent their home nations, and would compete as Neutral Athletes.

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Azarenka joins the growing list of Neutral Athletes

The two-time Grand Slam champion is among the players who have been extended an invitation to compete as a Neutral Athlete by the IOC. After accepting the invitation, the former World No.1 joins the list of players who will be competing under this new banner. Below is the list of players.

1. Daniil Medvedev
2. Roman Safiullin
3. Ekaterina Alexandrova
4. Mirra Andreeva
5. Pavel Kotov
6. Diana Shnaider

However, not every athlete accepted their invitation by the IOC to compete at the Olympics. Russians Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova, Mirra Andreeva and Anna Kalinskaya all declined their invitations for various reasons.