MOSCOW, April 5, Sergey Fuks. Member of the coaching staff of the French biathlon team Simon Fourcade clearly expressed his point of view regarding the suspension of Russian athletes, says Olympic champion, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports Anton Shipulin. Earlier, Russian biathlete and member of the technical team of the Russian junior team Yuri Batmanov told reporters how Simon Fourcade at the Junior World Championships in the United States in February, he tore up the French flag, made up the Russian tricolor from fragments and glued it to the wax cabin, from which the Russian flag had previously been removed. Fourcade also spoke out against the removal of Russian athletes from international competitions.
"Every person has his own opinion. We see the position of many European athletes, we see the other side in Russia, in Ukraine. Now the political situation is like this. Media in one country show one picture, and in another country — a completely different one. Simon has always been handsome (smiles. — Approx. ed.), who has his own position. He has a lot of friends in Russia, and we were very good friends and communicated with him", said Shipulin.
«He knows from the inside, probably much more Russians, our spirit than his colleagues from others countries. He expressed his opinion that he was for peace, but quite correctly noted: «Why don't you remember other situations?», He began to show other examples. Everything is clear, right on the bull's-eye, five out of five. After this situation, we did not correspond, although I wanted to write first. Then I thought that it would be better to let more time pass, then we will talk with him, «added Shipulin. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) suspended Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine. Later, the IBU suspended the membership of the RBU and the Belarusian Biathlon Federation.