The head of the Russian Olympic Committee spoke about escaped fencers

MOSCOW, January 12, Alena Sulizova. Head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov said that the departure of three fencers to the USA would not be a big loss for the Russian Federation.
USA Today previously reported that Russian fencer Sergei Bida, as well as Russian saber fencer Konstantin Lokhanov, intend to compete for the US team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Violetta Bida said during an interview that she is six months pregnant and will not participate in the Games. Sergei Bida is a silver medalist at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the team championship in epee fencing.
«»Frightened lovers of yellow scooters and frappes… Well, they left and left. Today we learned from the media that they were offered some cookies. The main thing is that they do not choke. For us, as for the Russian Federation, such losses no one will notice. ROC is unfairly suspended and, until the CAS verdict, is limited in its actions and cannot react to it in any way,» Pozdnyakov told reporters
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear the ROC's appeal against the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to suspend the organization's membership on January 26. ROC requests that the IOC's decision be reversed and its full membership in the organization restored. In the fall, the IOC suspended the ROC due to the inclusion of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions in the Olympic councils.

In September 2022, it became known that the Olympic champion of the Tokyo Games, saber fencer Sofia Pozdnyakova, the daughter of the president of the ROC, was divorcing her husband Konstantin Lokhanov after he moved to the USA.
Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation put Violetta and Sergei Bida on the wanted list. Sergei and his wife Violetta (before marriage — Khrapina) competed in the summer of 2023 at the US Fencing Championship in a neutral status without notifying the Russian side. Because of the incident with Bida, the senior coach of the Russian national epee team, Alexander Glazunov, was dismissed. According to a source, athletes face 5 to 10 years for leaving their unit without permission, since they are liable for military service.