Deputy Svischev called those who criticize Russians admitted to the 24 Olympic Games pseudo-patriots
It is surprising that some citizens are making unflattering comments about Russians admitted to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said Dmitry Svishchev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports. In an interview with Lenta.ru, he called those who criticize Russian athletes pseudo-patriots.
“How can our athletes who have decided to participate [в Олимпиаде]call them traitors, betrayers, and so on? These are our citizens, just like you and me. Each has their own motivation, each has their own decision. Because they decided to participate in the Olympics, they love our country no less than you and me. They have not changed their citizenship. Yes, they compete under a neutral status, but I want to remind you that Russia has already participated in several Olympics under a neutral status, and we have never called our athletes traitors, we have always been proud of their victories, and were upset by their defeats. We have always believed that these are our citizens and our athletes, so the position of some incomprehensible pseudo-patriots is surprising, of course, I think,” the deputy said.
There is a clear position of the state leadership. We respect the decisions of athletes who have decided to participate in the Olympic Games. We also respect the decisions of athletes and federations who have decided not to go to the Olympic Games due to discriminatory measures
Earlier, 2022 Olympic cross-country skiing champion Veronika Stepanova reported on her Telegram channel that she had questions for the 15 athletes admitted to the Olympics. The Russian woman said she wanted to know at whose expense they were traveling to the competition. “If these people were receiving salaries at the CSP of the Russian national teams and decided to be tourists, there are questions,” she wrote.
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On July 18, the final list of Russians admitted to the Olympic Games was announced. The following athletes will compete in the AIN (individual neutral athletes) status: Tamara Dronova, Alena Ivanchenko, Gleb Syritsa (all cycling), Angela Bladtseva (trampoline), Daniil Medvedev, Roman Safiullin, Ekaterina Aleksandrova, Mirra Andreeva, Pavel Kotov, Diana Schneider, Elena Vesnina (all tennis), Zakhar Petrov, Alexey Korovashkov, Olesya Romasenko (all canoeing) and Evgeny Somov (swimming).
Source: Lenta
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
