The list of Russian athletes who will perform at the Olympic Games in Paris is taking final shape. There may still and will probably be some isolated changes, but certain conclusions can already be drawn based on the results of the formation of the “neutral” team. The main one is that any medal at the Olympics will be a great success, if not a miracle.
The judokas recused themselves
The main intrigue until Friday evening was the admission to the Olympics of Russian judokas, who won 12 licenses during the selection process. Those athletes who were included in the Russian Judo Federation were not among the first of our athletes admitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, the appeal of the sports leaders of Ukraine saw the light of day, who demanded that Russian judokas not be allowed to the Games – due to the fact that they allegedly do not meet the criteria of neutrality.
As a result, the IOC followed the lead of Russia’s enemies, sending invitations to the Olympics to only four Russian judokas. And among them there is not a single team leader. Valery Endovitsky, Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov, Elis Startseva and Dali Liluashvili received admission, and the “red light” was turned on, including world champion Inal Tasoev and Olympic bronze medalist Madina Taymazova. These conditions of the IOC in the Russian Judo Federation were called humiliating: the presidium of the organization made a unanimous decision: no one will go to the Games in Paris.
Thus, judo became the first sport in which all Russian athletes refused to compete at the Games in a neutral status after they were admitted by a special IOC commission – albeit in a truncated number. Let us remember that after a similar decision in wrestling – where most of the leaders were also not given neutral status – the Russian federation of this sport took a different path. “The athletes who received invitations expressed a desire to participate in the Olympic Games, and members of the executive committee of the Russian Wrestling Federation unanimously supported them in this,” said the president of this organization, Mikhail Mamiashvili. True, it later became known that one recusal in the team did occur – Veronika Chumikova decided not to go to the Olympics.
Five and twenty five
As a result, at the moment, out of seven sports where Russians could be represented at the Olympic Games, they will compete in only five.
Cycling highway – the participation of Tamara Dronova and Alena Ivanchenko in the Games has been confirmed. An invitation has also been sent to Gleb Syritsa, who is to replace Alexander Vlasov, who refused to compete at the Olympics.
Trampolining – Angela Bladtseva will perform in this discipline, she accepted the IOC invitation.
Wrestling – nine athletes accepted invitations: Nachyn Mongush, Shamil Mamedov, Arslan Bagaev, Abdulla Kurbanov, Alan Ostaev, Magomed Murtazaliev, Natalya Malysheva, Alina Kasabieva, Elizaveta Petlyakova.
Tennis – eight Russians must compete for Olympic medals on the courts of Roland Garros. Of those previously named by the Russian Tennis Federation (RFF), invitations have been sent to Daniil Medvedev, Roman Safiullin, Ekaterina Alexandrova (the participation of both has been confirmed), Mirra Andreeva and Pavel Kotov. There is no reason to doubt that the final list will coincide with the FTR version: it is obvious that the process of updating the list in this particular case is purely technical in nature. Aslan Karatsev, Veronika Kudermetova and Diana Schneider must still receive invitations.
Kayaking and canoeing – the IOC has issued neutral status and sent invitations for the Olympics to Alexey Korovashkov and Zakhara Petrov. Ivan Shtyl also fulfilled the standard, but so far he is not among those admitted to the Games.
Who else can join the list of Russian Olympic participants? Unlikely many. You can only name swimmer Evgeny Somov. He met the Olympic standard in the 100-meter breaststroke, and previously received neutral status in the International Swimming Federation. Since Somov permanently resides in the USA, his chances of being admitted by the IOC commission to the Olympics look quite high.
However, in any case, it does not seem that the final number of Russians at the Games in Paris will exceed 25. Which generally corresponds to the preliminary plans of the IOC, announced back in March, when the qualifications were underway. Then the director of the IOC Department for Relations with National Olympic Committees, James McLeod, said that, in the best case, 36 Russians would come to the French capital in a neutral status. The forecast turned out to be a quarter more optimistic than reality.
The main stars are Medvedev and Andreeva
From the trends, it is quite obvious that Russian influence in international federations, which still remains in some places, was not enough to send the strongest athletes to the Olympics. The IOC clearly does not want Russians to be visible in Paris, and therefore the vast majority of the leaders were not allowed to participate in the Games – although, according to the recommendations of the same IOC, they participate in international competitions. Not only leading Russian wrestlers and judokas were dealt with mercilessly. Olympic taekwondo champions Vladislav Larin and Maxim Khramtsov, Games medalist Tatyana Minina and World Championship medalist Polina Khan were not allowed to attend the Olympics. Although they performed in a neutral status and qualified for the Games.
However, it turned out that neutral status from the federations is not a guarantee of admission to the Games. In Lausanne, they cut off from the Olympics not just representatives of CSKA and Dynamo, as they had planned to do earlier, but simply all those who could become favorites in their disciplines. With the composition of the Russians who will go to the Games, it is very likely that they will not be able to win a single medal.
All hope, perhaps, is in tennis. The main Russian stars at the Olympics, apparently, will be Daniil Medvedev, who has already proven himself in the tennis elite, and young Mirra Andreeva, who has quickly burst into it, who can also play not only in singles and doubles, but also with each other in mixed doubles. Of course, they are also not guaranteed medals at all: the Roland Garros soil is not the most convenient surface for our players.
But we have a trump card that others do not have – this is the president of the FTR and, what importantly, IOC member Shamil Anvyarovich Tarpishchev. There is no doubt that it is his merit that he has the most loyal attitude towards Russian tennis players compared to other sports, both in the international federation, in the men's and women's professional tours, and in the process of obtaining admission to the Olympics. Well, Tarpishchev’s ability to give the necessary advice in the game is the talk of the town. Over the decades, thanks to his tennis wisdom, our athletes have won many awards at various major tournaments – both team and individual. There is a chance that the Olympics in Paris will join this list.
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