Zhurova: Ukrainian Kotlyar will be persecuted for shaking hands with Russian Mincheva on AO
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Olympic speed skating champion Svetlana Zhurova appreciated the handshake between Ukrainian tennis player Elizaveta Kotlyar and Russian Vlada Mincheva at the Australian Open (AO). Her words are quoted by TASS.
Zhurova suggested that Kotlyar would be neglected in her homeland. “This act is the athlete’s personal courage, but we remember how this ends in her homeland. But let’s rejoice for this act, thank God, there is someone who considers this normal,” she noted.
The deputy also said that the International Olympic Committee and sports federations should rethink the need for handshakes. “In many sports it was mandatory, but apparently it will have to be revised,” Zhurova said.
Kotlyar and Mincheva shook hands after the first round match of the junior AO. The meeting ended with a score of 6:2, 6:4 in favor of the Russian.
Ukrainian tennis players usually do not shake hands with Russians and Belarusians and do not take joint photos after matches. In response to this, spectators sometimes boo the athletes.
Source: Lenta
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