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• Dylan Carter anticipates great 2023 after early 2024 Olympic qualification

  Dylan Carter is anticipating a good year ahead as he can swim free knowing that he no longer has to worry about meeting the 2024 Olympic qualification standards.

  On March 2, the 27-year-old Carter swam 48.28 to win the 100m freestyle race at the TYR Pro Series Meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is below the Olympic qualifying standard of 48.34. In winning, he held off the challenge of Matthew Richards (48.48) and Hunter Armstrong (48.95).

  The time was a new national record for the twin-island republic and made Carter the first male 100m freestyler in the world to qualify for the Olympics in the event.

   “It’s all very exciting and I am very happy with that,” he told Sportsmax.TV.

  Coming off the success at the World Short Course Championships in Australia in December 2022, where he won a bronze medal the 50m freestyle, Carter took some time to rest and prepare for Olympic qualification.

  “Between World Short Course in December and now, I took a couple weeks’ break and went to Tobago for New Year’s and was coming back slowly in January, building up my fitness,” he said.

  “I wasn’t really sure where I would be in March but I was focusing on my speed, strength and power through January and February.”

  He believes the work he did building his strength helped him achieve the personal best time and a spot at the Olympic Games.

  “I think that little extra bit of strength paid off. Also, racing the weekend before at the Jalisco Cup in Mexico was at 5500 feet altitude so competing all weekend racing very hard at altitude and then coming down the next week to race 100, I was really, really good at sea level. That might have played a part in it but I am really happy.

  “It is a small personal best for me which at 27 years of age you can’t complain about that in March and it sets me up really well for the rest of the year and I don’t have to worry about qualification or time.”

   

• Over 30 countries request Russian and Belarusian athlete ban from Paris Olympics

  Hosts France are among 34 countries to have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

  The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are also among those to have called for a ban to be imposed.

  A joint-statement released on Monday detailed reasoning based around "Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice [against Ukraine], facilitated by the Belarusian government."

  Russia's sports minister, Oleg Matytsin, said earlier this month that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for governments to attempt to influence the IOC.

  The IOC confirmed last month it intended to uphold sanctions against Russian and Belarusian state and government officials ahead of next year's Games in the French capital, but added it would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete under a neutral flag.

  Monday's statement from the 34 countries addressed that plan, welcoming "the IOC’s reaffirmation and reinforcement of their existing sanctions in place" while suggesting their neutrality comments raised "many questions and concerns".

  "While recognising the autonomy of sports bodies, given the invasion of Ukraine and its devastation is ongoing, we agreed that the IOC's proposal on exploring a pathway back to competition for individual Russian and Belarusian athletes raises many questions and concerns," the statement read.

  The signatories also referenced a lack of "clarity" around the neutrality model as a key reason why athletes from the two countries should not be present in Paris.

  "We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as 'neutrals' – under the IOC's conditions of no identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states," the statement continued.

  "The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Our collective approach throughout has therefore never been one of discrimination simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns need to be dealt with by the IOC.

  "As long as these fundamental issues and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable 'neutrality' model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition."

  The statement finished by outlining the position would be altered should the war in Ukraine be ended, saying: "We also note that Russia and Belarus have it in their own hands to pave the way for their athletes' full return to the international sports community, namely by ending the war they started."

• Russia raging as threat of Paris Olympics blanket ban looms large

  Russia's sports minister has attacked politicians' demands to block athletes from the country competing at the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

  Oleg Matytsin said it was "absolutely unacceptable" for governments to attempt to influence the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

  His reaction on Saturday followed Lithuanian sports minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene announcing there was a "unanimous" view from a group of around 35 countries that athletes from Russia and Belarus should be banned from the Paris 2024 Games.

  The stance comes amid the invasion of Ukraine, with ministers from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia, reportedly opposing Russian and Belarusian athletes being allowed to take part, even under a neutral flag.

  A virtual meeting of sports ministers, also attended by Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was held on Friday.

  Zelenskyy said the presence of competitors from Russia "cannot be covered up with some pretended neutrality or a white flag", saying their presence would be a "manifestation of violence and lawlessness".

  Matytsin told reporters, according to Russian news agency TASS, that other nations had no right to put pressure on Olympic chiefs.

  He said: "This is a direct intervention of ministers in the activities of independent international sports organisations, an attempt to dictate the conditions for the participation of athletes in international competitions, which is absolutely unacceptable.

  "Moreover, more than a month ago, the national Olympic committees of these countries supported the decision of the IOC on the participation of our athletes in competitions.

  "These countries are putting pressure on the activities of independent public organisations, which they tried to accuse us of. Now we see an undisguised desire to destroy the unity of international sports and the international Olympic movement, to make sport a means of pressure in order to resolve political issues."

  Matytsin said sport should instead be used "to be an ambassador of peace and build bridges between peoples".

  Athletes from Ukraine have accused the IOC of "being on the wrong side of history" as Games organisers consider whether athletes from Russia and Belarus, which has supported Russian invasion efforts, should be able to take part in Paris.

  IOC president Thomas Bach previously criticised Ukrainian calls for a boycott of the Olympics if Russians and Belarusians are allowed to take part.

  In a statement issued in conjunction with union Global Athlete, Ukraine's Olympic committee said allowing Russia to compete would enable the country to "use the athletes to bolster the war effort and distract from the atrocities in Ukraine".