MOSCOW, September 30, Svetlana Bonopartova. Appeal of the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ) Thomas Bach to allow Russian athletes who do not support the special operation in Ukraine to international starts is blackmail and a manifestation of rudeness, said Olympic figure skating champion Tatyana Navka. Earlier, the head of the IOC, Bach, in an interview with the Italian edition of Corriere della Sera, said that Russian athletes, who do not support the special operation in Ukraine, they should be allowed to participate in international competitions in a neutral status. «This is pure blackmail. They themselves say that they are «out of politics» and ask to involve athletes in politics. This is just rudeness, I think. I myself wonder if any of the Russian athletes will take such a step,» Navka said.
