Deputy Svishchev announced the chances of Russian athletes to participate in the Olympics
The statement of the US Olympic Committee about the need to allow Russian athletes to participate in the Olympics was unexpected, but logical: without athletes from Russia, competitions become less competitive and spectacular. This was stated by State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOPC) called for the participation of Russians in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The head of the organization, Suzanne Lyons, told The Wall Street Journal. “It may be painful to realize, but the exclusion of the Russians is setting us back, their return is really important for the Olympic movement,” Lyons said.
An unexpected statement
“This statement turned out to be very unexpected, because we witnessed how, in many respects, it was the American and European colleagues who conducted a real campaign against athletes from Russia and Belarus, as Mr. Bach stated that Russian athletes should not be allowed and urged international committees not to invite them to participate. “, Svishchev recalled.
He admitted that the statement of the American Olympic Committee is a personal position based on pragmatism, because international competitions are interesting precisely because of wrestling, competition, which in many areas is impossible without Russian athletes.
Only recently there was a World Cup in cross-country skiing, where 9 out of 10 first places were taken by athletes from Norway. And they themselves stated that such a result did not please them, because, in fact, it was just the Norwegian Championship. And the same is true for many other sports: figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics and others, where our athletes set the pace for the development of sports.
Svishchev suggested treating the statement of the US representatives carefully and without too much optimism, because it can only be an informal recommendation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the organization reserves the right to make decisions. In addition, even the US OC proposed to allow Russian athletes only subject to restrictions.
“It is proposed to perform without a flag, anthem, other paraphernalia corresponding to national teams. Such things are illegal and definitely not in the competence of the Americans, ”the politician emphasized.
Chances and prospects
Already now, according to the deputy, there are qualifying tournaments for the Olympic Games, it would be positive to decide on the admission of athletes from Russia to them.
“Our athletes have a fighting spirit, they are in good physical shape. Of course, the lack of competitive practice negatively affects the form, but I think they will manage. So there are chances to compete in many sports, although, of course, there are problems with various federations. These issues must be resolved through negotiations with foreign colleagues, no matter how difficult it may be,” Svishchev is sure.
Recall that in May, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, spoke about the admission of Russians to the Olympics in Paris. He stressed that he did not know how the situation would develop.
Source: Lenta
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