On Saturday it became known that Russian wrestlers, following Judokas in their entirety refused to participate in the Olympic Games. Sports correspondent talks about a decision that was both expected and became a sensation.
Wrestling is one of the few sports where Russians were allowed to participate in international tournaments with virtually no restrictions. Moreover, the leadership of the federation has always emphasized that the main goal of the season is obtaining Olympic licenses. But he added that selection for the Games is one thing, but participation in them is quite another.
“Our task is to win licenses in order to have the right to participate in the Olympics. And then we will weigh all the pros and cons and make an informed decision,” said Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian Wrestling Federation (FSBR), in April. “The decision will be made only with the consent of the country's leadership and the wishes of the people of our country, for whom we perform. This must be a joint decision with the country, and if it coincides with the wishes of the fans, then we will take this responsibility for ourselves.»
However, around the same time, the leaders of the Russian wrestling team began to put a spoke in their wheels. At first, the champions of the Games, Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Musa Evloev, were not allowed to participate in the Olympic selection. Moreover, it is not clear who exactly did this: first, the FSBR said that it was the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after which the department of Thomas Bach responded that the decision was made in the United World of Wrestling (UWW). Then several more top wrestlers were excluded from selection for the Games.
Well, then thunder struck: the IOC published the names of those to whom invitations to the Olympics were sent. And there was, in fact, not a single contender for awards. “It is completely unclear by what criteria this list was formed,” Mamiashvili said hot on the heels, but then spoke much more specifically. “In the IOC decision, we see, unfortunately, complete disregard for both the charter of the international federation and the Olympic Charter. And the most interesting thing is , this is a complete disregard on the part of the IOC for the position of the International Wrestling Federation. After all, it created a commission that monitored many things in relation to our athletes. You saw what difficult conditions for selection for the Olympic Games we went through.”
Nevertheless, all Russian wrestlers admitted to the Olympics, except for Veronika Chumikova, agreed to the invitation of the IOC, and this decision seemed to fit into the initial criteria outlined by the head of the FSBR. The country's leadership, through the mouth of its president, gave athletes the right to decide whether to compete at the Olympic Games. Well, I think the support of the fans would also be ensured for the athletes — after all, they would know perfectly well who exactly is performing on the Olympic carpet, albeit in a neutral form. “The athletes who received invitations from the IOC expressed a desire to participate in the Olympics, and members of the FSBR executive committee unanimously supported them in this,” Mamiashvili said then. “But it is too early to say that the performance of our athletes in Paris has been finally confirmed.”
The last phrase, as life showed, was not accidental. The leaders of the federation left room for maneuver, which became almost inevitable after, in a similar situation, the Russian judokas admitted in a reduced number refused to compete at the Games. True, a strange story happened with Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov — opposite his name on the IOC website there was a note that he accepted the invitation to the Olympics. However, soon the leaders of the Russian Judo Federation announced that, as had been determined earlier, no Russian judokas were going to Paris and they had at their disposal Makhmadbekov’s refusal to participate in the Olympics.
The reversal in the position of the Russian wrestlers followed on Saturday, and it became both expected and sensational at the same time. «The FSBR Executive Committee held an extended meeting with the coaching staff of the Russian national teams in freestyle, women's and Greco-Roman wrestling and with athletes who received invitations to the Olympic Games. We came to a unanimous decision — to refuse to participate in the Olympics. The IOC became an obstacle to Abdulrashid Sadulayev's path to the third Olympic peak, did not give the opportunity to Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev, Musa Evloev and other wrestlers of the Russian national team, and the United World of Wrestling lost the last chance that the Olympic Games are a competition of the strongest, — said the FSBR — the Federation, athletes and. The coaches of the Russian national teams will not follow the lead of politicians and will not allow the spirit of the Russian team to be broken; we do not accept the unsportsmanlike selection principle that guided the IOC when forming the list of admitted athletes, the purpose of which is to undermine the principle of the unity of our team.»
“Any normal person understands the unacceptability of the current position of the IOC leadership towards our athletes, who have gone through the most difficult selection process. We hoped to the end that the IOC would make an adequate decision, but it was made by a bunch of distraught people at the head of the organization. They took the path of destroying all sporting principles , did not allow those who really claimed to win. Thus, they are fulfilling a political task,” Mamiashvili said, commenting on the federation’s decision.
Thus, after the wrestlers refused to participate in the Olympics, the list of Russians who will go (if there are no other similar decisions) to Paris was reduced to 13 people. The “devil’s dozen” include Tamara Dronova, Alena Ivanchenko, Gleb Syritsa (all cycling), Angela Bladtseva (trampoline), Daniil Medvedev, Roman Safiullin, Pavel Kotov, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Mirra Andreeva, Diana Schneider (all tennis) , Alexey Korovashkov, Zakhar Petrov (both kayaking and canoeing), Evgeny Somov (swimming). It is possible that the winner of the gold and silver Olympic medals in tennis, Elena Vesnina, will also be allowed to participate in the Games; a decision on her is expected on Monday.
And, of course, in this situation, debates will flare up with renewed vigor — how to treat those of our athletes who will compete at the Olympics?
“It’s better for those who go there without a flag and an anthem not to return,” is the opinion of the President of the International Boxing Association (IBA) Umar Kremlev.
“Well, how can you not root for them? They never cease to be ours — and this is the position of Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev — “Russia is in my heart” — remember, this was the slogan during the first attacks on our sport? And I will watch (the performances of Russian Olympians) due to my professional duties. , I’ll root for them.”
So it turns out that the official position of the country’s leadership — at least for now — the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games still does not contradict. Whether to root for them or not… Let's listen to our hearts. And we will each decide for ourselves.
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