The International Olympic Committee (IOC) continued to put pressure on Russia, two-time Olympic champion Elena Isinbayeva renounced from CSKA, figure skater Kamila Valieva is waiting for the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Elena Vyalbe and Irina Viner called for refusal to participate in the Olympic Games talks about these and other main sporting events of 2023.
The IOC continues to put pressure on Russian sports
In March, as it initially seemed, there was a certain thaw in relations between the International Olympic Committee and Russian sports. But this impression was wrong. The IOC Executive Committee recommended allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions in a neutral status, but announced a number of criteria.
Athletes applying for a trip to tournaments should not be associated with the military structures of the countries. Also, only those who have not been seen supporting the SVO can be admitted. Team sports teams were completely denied participation in competitions. These conditions were criticized both by sports officials, who noted the inadmissibility of discrimination and violation of human rights, and by the athletes themselves.
In the fall, the IOC went even further, suspending the Russian Olympic Committee ( ROC) due to the inclusion in its composition of the Olympic Councils of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The Russian side responded with a claim to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) with an appeal.
Despite the suspension of the ROC, in early December the IOC decided to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag and subject to a number of criteria . The head of the ROC, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, called the stated conditions unacceptable for the vast majority of Russian athletes.
Calls from Wiener and Vyalbe
The head of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics (VFKhG) Irina Viner and the President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR) Elena Vyalbe became the voice of Russian sports under sanctions. Both Wiener and Vyalbe spoke categorically: athletes from Russia should not go to the Olympic Games in a humiliating neutral status without a flag and anthem.
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"We need to cancel Russia – they cancel . It’s okay, let’s wait, they themselves will crawl on their knees and beg,” the head of the FLGR is sure.
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< p>“The flag and anthem of Russia belong to the country, we are not refugees or homeless people. How can Russia play on a refugee team? To perform without a flag and Motherland – why perform at all then?” – says Wiener.
President Vladimir Putin said that, despite the neutral status, Russian athletes still need to be given a chance to compete at the Olympics. At the same time, the head of state noted that if the rights of athletes from the sports societies CSKA and Dynamo are infringed, then the Ministry of Sports and the ROC must make a “well-informed decision.”
Admission of Paralympians
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), in turn, showed a little more independence from politics by allowing Russians to participate in the Paralympic Games in a neutral status in the individual competition. The IPC, following the example of the IOC, did not set conditions that were impossible for many, but still partially suspended the membership of the Russian Paralympic Committee for two years.
According to RKR President Pavel Rozhkov, Russian athletes will not be required to condemn the SVO. According to the results of a preliminary analysis, about 200 athletes from Russia can go to the Games in Paris.
Uncanceled Russians
Russian boxers became the only representatives included in program of the Olympic Games of sports that in 2023 competed at international competitions, including world championships, under the national flag. And in honor of their triumph, the Russian anthem was repeatedly sounded.
Athletes of other types of martial arts, such as judo, taekwondo and wrestling, by decision of the relevant international federations, fought at prestigious tournaments in a neutral status. That, however, did not stop them from winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the world championships. The wrestlers deserve special mention – representatives of freestyle in September brought the country four direct licenses to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Valieva against WADA. The case of Olympic gold
The doping scandal involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva continued in 2023. Valieva passed a positive doping test on December 25, 2021, the day of the free program of the Russian Championship. This became known on February 8, 2022 – the day after the end of the team tournament at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, where the Russian team with Kamila in the lineup won.
The Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) found no guilt and did not punish the athlete, after which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to CAS, and the International Skating Union (ISU) and RUSADA joined as parties .
The first hearings in Valieva's case took place in Lausanne on September 26-28. The panel heard testimony from the parties, experts and witnesses. Following the meetings, the arbitrators decided to prepare additional documentation, which became the reason for postponing the hearings to November 9-10. On November 10, CAS announced that the panel of arbitrators would render a verdict in Valieva’s case in January 2024. The organization later added that it plans to publish a decision in this case by February 12.
“Nominal Major” Isinbayev
At the center of a big scandal in the past year was two-time Olympic champion in pole vaulting Elena Isinbaeva. On July 17, after a long absence from the public arena, the athlete announced that she would continue working with the IOC from September. The former athlete, who holds the rank of major, also emphasized that the military ranks received while playing for CSKA are nominal.
A wave of criticism hit Isinbayeva. In particular, Vyalbe advised her to “shut your mouth and live in your Spain,” calling the Olympic champion a “stupid girl.” In addition, according to the decree of the government of the Republic of Dagestan, the athletics arena in the center of Makhachkala, which for the last six years has been named after Isinbayeva, has been renamed and returned to its previous name – “Trud”.
Invincible Makhachev
In the world of mixed martial arts, the name of the holder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title, Islam Makhachev, thundered. The Russian fighter defeated Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February, and in October he defended the title for the second time, knocking out the same Australian. Their first fight was recognized as the fight of the year at the World MMA Awards.
Things were not going well for Peter Yan. The Russian lost in four of his last five fights – in the last one he lost to the Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili. .jpg” />
The owner of the Bellator light heavyweight champion belt, Vadim Nemkov, in turn, defeated Cuban Yoel Romero in the main fight of the 297th league tournament in June and rose to first place in the promotion’s ranking outside depending on the weight category. Later, the Russian announced his intention to vacate the title and rise to the heavy division of the league.
Nepomniachtchi’s second attempt
Leading Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi missed the chance to bring the world chess crown to the country for the second time.
The winner of the 2022 Candidates Tournament in the title match met with the representative of China, Ding Liren, who unexpectedly received a chance to win the throne after refusing to fight for the title of the current world champion, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. The main part of the classical chess match, which took place in April-May in Kazakhstan, did not reveal the strongest (score – 7-7), but in the rapid tiebreaker the chess player from the Middle Kingdom turned out to be stronger (2.5-1.5), who became the first world champion.
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"I had every chance, I should have finished the match in classical games, I missed one or two accurate moves, and the tiebreaker is always a certain lottery, especially after 14 games of classics,” the Russian chess player complained.
Medvedev's five trophies and Andreeva's breakthrough
Russian tennis players had an excellent international season. Daniil Medvedev ended the year in the semifinals of the final ATP tournament, remaining in third place in the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals. Andrei Rublev completed the top five at the end of the season. After a poor start to the year, defeat at the Australian Open and a temporary drop out of the top ten rankings, Medvedev changed course, winning five singles titles.
br>39-year-old Vera Zvonareva also chalked up a successful season when she, paired with German Laura Siegemund, won the final tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).
The Russian Mirra Andreeva, recognized as the WTA Rookie of the Year, turned out to be a real discovery. Andreeva also made the biggest jump in the WTA rankings in 2023. The athlete, who turned 16 during the season, rose 359 places in the ranking. At the end of 2022, she was ranked 405th, and during the 2023 season she was ranked 46th in the world.
Roman Kostomarov : tragedy and overcoming
A terrible tragedy happened to Olympic champion Roman Kostomarov. On January 10, the skater was admitted to intensive care with pneumonia, after which he spent 175 days in the clinic. Due to developing necrosis, doctors had to perform several amputations of the athlete’s arms and legs. Despite all the difficulties, Kostomarov continued to play sports. By December, he even returned to the ice and took part in the show “Together and Forever”, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Ilya Averbukh.
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“It’s a great pleasure to go out on the ice, to see a full hall, “When you are accepted like this. I want to say a huge thank you for the support that I felt during this terrible time. I want to thank my wife, who was with me every minute, my parents, my brother, everyone who cared about me,” he said Kostomarov.
br>Refusal from Asia and dialogue with UEFA
Despite the sanctions against Russian football, in 2023 the national team played eight friendly matches and earned points in the FIFA rankings. Valery Karpin's team met with the teams of Iran (1:1), Iraq (2:0), Egypt (Olympic, 1:1 and 1:2), Qatar (1:1), Cameroon (1:0), Kenya (2 :2), and also defeated the Cubans in Volgograd with a score of 8:0 in November.
Football became one of the few sports where an attempt was made to soften the sanctions: in September, the executive committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) allowed Russian national teams of players no older than 17 years old to participate in tournaments. However, a month later, UEFA removed the issue from the agenda of the executive committee, since “it was not possible to find a technical solution allowing Russian teams to play.” In December, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Alexander Dyukov, emphasized: if the Russian national team is not allowed to the next qualifying draw for the U-17 European Championship, this will be another signal that the doors to UEFA are closing.
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It was no coincidence that the head of the RFU said about the doors: back in 2022, against the backdrop of the suspension of teams, conversations began about the advisability of the RFU leaving UEFA and moving to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In 2023, this topic found its development – in December, the executive committee of the RFU voted against moving to the AFC, deciding to continue the negotiation process with UEFA.
In search of a new homeland
A number of Russian athletes are under pressure from sanctions, they decided to change their sports citizenship. Swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova became a citizen of France, biathlete Daria Virolainen joined the Finnish national team, the 12th world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk now represents Switzerland, and gymnast Anastasia Simakova represents Germany. Cyclist Pavel Sivakov and tennis player Varvara Gracheva, like Kirpichnikova, chose France, and married short track speed skater Sofya Prosvirnova moved to Denmark.
Special mention should be made of figure skaters Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, who perform in dances at ice There have been talks about the possible departure of the athletes for a long time, and in June it became known that the executive committee of the Russian Figure Skating Federation approved Georgia's request to change the sports citizenship of this couple.
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