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On Tuesday it became known that Russian rowers refused to take part in the qualifying competitions for the Olympic Games in Paris. What sports will Russians be able to see at the Games? About this in the article Sport.
Russian athletes were allowed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris in a neutral status only in December 2023 – when in most sports the selection for the Games is either was already in full swing, or even completed. Therefore, on the twentieth of March, when the IOC Executive Committee met, the following disappointing figures were announced: only 12 Russians have qualified for the Olympics at the moment, theoretically 55 of them can qualify, but in practice 36 Russian athletes may end up in Paris.
But this was before the statement of the Russian Rowing Federation, whose representatives still had a chance to compete at the Games. In March, qualifying races were held in Azerbaijan, following which a team was formed to participate in European qualification. However, Russian athletes will not compete at competitions in Szeged, Hungary, and Lucerne, Switzerland. Together with their coaches, they decided to refuse to qualify for the Olympics under the conditions and obligations that the International Rowing Federation and the IOC set for them.
“We confirm our desire to participate in international competitions on a general and legal basis, but we are offered to compete under discriminatory conditions with unknown consequences, and financial obligations are also attached to this. In such a formulation of the issue, there cannot be a positive solution,” said FSGR President Alexey Svirin.
Well, the number of Russians in a neutral status at the Olympic Games already looked sparse. Our swimmers refused to participate, not agreeing with the conditions of the international federation, all the strongest Russian fencers did not receive neutral status, and in athletics, the reactionary British president of the international federation, Sebastian Coe, does not allow Russian athletes to participate in international tournaments under any conditions in principle. And this list goes on.
In addition to the fact that many international federations have done their utmost to ensure that there are a minimum number of Russian athletes at the Olympics – excuse the pun – the IOC is also making its efforts in this direction. On the one hand, he talks about human rights and equal opportunities, and on the other, he denies Russian athletes participation in the opening ceremony and forces them to agree to other humiliating conditions.
So it is premature to even say that any of the Russian athletes will, in principle, go to Paris, even from those who have been selected or will be selected. The rhetoric of the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, is turning into openly hostile towards Russia. A little more, and for every normal citizen of Russia, participation in these Games will become unacceptable. But let’s not talk about that for now – but let’s look at which of ours, in principle, can still perform at the Olympics.
Tennis
The participation of Russian tennis players in the Olympic Games seems guaranteed. The selection here is carried out according to the ratings of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as of June 10, 2024 – 56 people each, with a maximum of four quotas per country. Both men and women will definitely have so many Russian tennis players.
Right now, for example, Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Roman Safiullin are selected for the Olympics for men, Daria Kasatkina, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Lyudmila Samsonova and Veronika Kudermetova for women. In addition, according to a separate list of the top 10 in doubles, Vera Zvonareva, currently the 9th racket in the world in this discipline, can qualify for the Games.
However, one nuance still remains unclear. According to the rules for qualifying for the Games, each tennis player must perform in at least two matches during the Olympic cycle for his national team in team tournaments – for men this is the Davis Cup, for women – the Billie Jean King Cup. None of the Russians currently meets this criterion, since Russian national teams have been suspended from participation in team competitions since March 2022.
However, since Russian players compete on the professional tours in a neutral status and do not participate in team tournaments against their will, there is a clear feeling that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will not apply this rule to them. Moreover, the participation of tennis players from Russia in the Olympics is beneficial for officials from the IOC: they need to have at least some representatives from our country in Paris to report on the “completed mission of sport.”
In addition, there is a chance The possibility that any incidents of a political nature could occur in tennis matches is practically excluded: the Russians travel around the world along with the entire professional tour and periodically meet on the court with the Ukrainians, who have not made any demarches for a long time. Some even shook our hands or “knocked” rackets with them – although in general the Ukrainian side’s refusal to shake hands remains in force.
Martial arts
Here, in all disciplines, Russian representatives are actively participating in the selection for the Olympic Games. Last year, at the European Championships in Belgrade, the first stage of qualification, the Russians won four Olympic licenses (they are not named) in freestyle wrestling. In Greco-Roman wrestling, it was not possible to take a single license at that tournament, but the President of the Russian Wrestling Federation (FSBR) Mikhail Mamiashvili declared his confidence that our athletes would also receive all six quotas in this discipline.
However, as for the performance at the Olympic Games itself, everything is not as simple as in tennis. It is quite obvious that it will be more difficult for wrestlers who, unlike most of our leading tennis players, live and train in Russia to abstract themselves from the unfriendly agenda of the IOC. Yes, and there may be obstacles from Lausanne. Thus, Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling Musa Evloev has already been denied participation in the selection for the Games because of his photograph against the background of the “No to Nazism!” poster. It is possible that closer to the Olympics the IOC will find a way not to give neutral status to our other wrestlers.
Therefore, Mamiashvili is not making specific plans for the Olympics yet. “We are preparing to win the maximum number of possible licenses. But participation in the Olympic Games is a completely different story. First we need to win this right, and then we will very seriously consult and listen to each other. I think there will be a solution balanced and balanced. But now there is no need to rush,” the head of the FSBR noted.
Qualification for the Olympic Games in judo continues. It will end only in June, and the head of the Russian Judo Federation is still wary of specifics regarding Russian representation in this sport in Paris. “We still have to participate in quite a large number of rating tournaments; now we are focused on the most successful performance of our boys and girls in them. It is too early to say anything about neutral status for our participation in the Olympics and the fulfillment of any other necessary conditions “, he noted.
In taekwondo, Russians have currently won four Olympic licenses. At the qualifying tournament in Bulgaria in March, the task was completed by Tokyo Olympic champion Maxim Khramtsov, silver medalist of the Games Tatyana Minina, Polina Khan. At the end of December, the 2020 Games champion Vladislav Larin received an Olympic license after winning the Grand Slam tournament in Paris.
Cycling, trampoline and golf
On the cycling highway, Russia has four Olympic licenses – two each for men and women. However, there are doubts about the participation of Russian cyclists in the Olympics. “It doesn’t even matter how many quotas we have, it doesn’t change anything, since we don’t understand whether we will go there at all. Who will pay for this trip, who will accompany the athletes, and so on,” said the president of the Russian Cycling Federation in February (FSVR) Vyacheslav Ekimov.
Later in March, when the IOC announced specific principles for the participation of Russian athletes in a neutral status at the Games in Paris, Ekimov expressed the opinion on the FSVR Telegram channel that it was necessary to go to the Olympics. “Firstly, we as a country continue to support the ideals of sport. Secondly, all of our athletes who will be qualified and selected to participate are professional athletes. For them, this is a professional activity and they deserve respect for their work,” – he stated.
Russians received one Olympic license for trampoline jumping after the World Cup held in Germany at the end of March. She is unnamed, and two athletes are vying for her – Yana Lebedeva and Angela Bladtseva. Who exactly will go to Paris will become known later – the federation of this sport plans to make a decision on a sporting basis.
A Russian athlete may also compete at the Olympic golf competitions. Many people remember the Olympic record that Russian Maria Verchenova set in one of the rounds at the Rio Games. And now she has a follower: Natalya Guseva, who last year broke into the elite of world golf, is close to qualifying for the Olympics in Paris. True, as of early April, she is not one of the 60 participants in the Games, but she is close to this and is on the list of reserve participants. Since the selection will be carried out on the basis of the world ranking on June 24, Guseva still has every chance of reaching the capital of France.
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