KAZAN, May 4, Vadim Kuznetsov. Four-time Olympic biathlon champion Alexander Tikhonov said that he does not expect decisions in favor of Russian athletes from the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, since he is not an independent figure. Earlier, the IOC Executive Committee, against the backdrop of events in Ukraine, recommended not allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions. This recommendation was followed by most IFs. The day before, Bach, speaking at the General Assembly of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Oceania, said, in particular, that «we will sanction only those people who are responsible for something, governments themselves should be responsible for the actions of governments.» «Thomas Bach «A slave of America. We know perfectly well that the general sponsors of the IOC are the Americans. Whoever pays the money orders the music. Everyone can listen. They order alone. Thomas Bach is unable to decide anything,» Tikhonov said. «We are not sponsors of the IOC , there is no one from Russia besides Elena Isinbayeva and Shamil Tarpishchev, but they do not decide anything. What can we do, for example, in biathlon or athletics? What they are ordered to do, they will do. And they can do this to any president of the national federation » — said the interlocutor of the agency. According to Tikhonov, at the moment, Russian sports should pay more attention to domestic starts. «We have a great country with a great history. We need to think about the domestic landar. As soon as everything is over in Ukraine, all this headless public will return. They will crawl on their knees to beg for our biathlon to return. But it is also important for us to solve internal problems, and not just evaluate the words of Bach,» Tikhonov added.
