Andreeva and Shnaider, part of AIN, are the first Russians to get a medal at the 2024 Olympics

PARIS (AP) — The first medal for any Russian athlete at the 2024 Olympics — technically not representing their country, but competing as neutrals, because of the war on Ukraine — came in tennis on Sunday, when Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider got a silver in women's doubles.

Andreeva and Shnaider lost the final to Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 in a match tiebreaker. Olympics doubles uses a first-to-10 tiebreaker instead of a standard third set.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus are competing at the Paris Games as Individual Neutral Athletes, known by the French acronym AIN. Those nations were banned by the International Olympic Committee from team sports at the Paris Games because of the attack on Ukraine that began in February 2022.

Individual athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports were allowed to compete as neutrals if they qualified and then were approved for entry to the Olympics.

"I'm not going to answer anything about politics here. ... I'm here to talk about tennis," Shnaider said at the post-match news conference, where both Russians wore plain white T-shirts.

When the silver medalists were asked their thoughts on competing as part of the AIN group, instead of Russia, Andreeva responded: "I have no way to answer this. For me, honestly, it doesn't matter. I just go out there, I play and I fight. And this week, we played and we fight together."

The AIN athletes are not allowed to wear uniforms indicating which country they’re from, so Andreeva and Shnaider wore all-white outfits on court, with no flag or other marking related to Russia. Shnaider said earlier in the tournament that she was wearing the same thing in Paris that she used last month at Wimbledon, which has a policy mandating white clothing.

On Friday, Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, both of Belarus, won the first medals by AIN athletes at the Paris Olympics, both in trampoline. Litvinovich claimed gold for the men, and Bardzilouskaya got the women’s silver. Yauheni Zalati, also from Belarus, won a silver in rowing on Saturday.

Andreeva is 17 and becomes the second-youngest player to claim a medal in Olympic tennis. Jennifer Capriati was 16 when she won the singles gold for the United States at Barcelona in 1992.

The 20-year-old Shnaider played one season of college tennis at North Carolina State. This was the first tournament she and Andreeva entered together in doubles. Andreeva was a singles semifinalist at the French Open in June.

Shnaider, whose family lives in Moscow, and Andreeva, whose training base is in Cannes, France, eliminated the second-seeded pairing of Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic — the Tokyo Olympics champions — in the quarterfinals.

Errani and Paolini gave Italy its first tennis gold medal at any Summer Olympics. Lorenzo Musetti won a bronze in men's singles on Saturday. The two medals are the first for their country since one bronze at the 1924 Paris Games.

Errani, 37, completed a career Golden Slam by adding her Olympics gold medal to her five Grand Slam doubles titles — at least one at each of the four major tournaments — which she accomplished with a different partner, Roberta Vinci.

Paolini is having her best season as a professional tennis player. She is coming off runner-up finishes in singles at the French Open and Wimbledon, and she and Errani also were finalists in doubles at the French Open, where they lost to Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy hug after they defeat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Individual Neutral Athlete in the women's doubles gold medal tennis match at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrate after they defeat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Individual Neutral Athlete in the women's doubles gold medal tennis match at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Individual Neutral Athlete react as they play against Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy during women's doubles gold medal tennis match at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Gold medalist Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy bite their medal after they defeat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Individual Neutral Athlete in the women's doubles gold medal tennis match at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Individual Neutral Athlete show their silver medals after losing to Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy after women's doubles gold medal tennis match at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)