MOSCOW, Mar 27, Oleg Bogatov. Full participation of Russian weightlifters in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris does not meet the interests of the Western countries, thinking only about their own selfish goals, said the President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation Maxim Agapitov.
In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international sports federations prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has decided to remove the Russians from competitions held under the auspices of the organization. At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the Russian team was represented by only two athletes due to sanctions.
“The best weightlifters in the world again have little chance of fully participating in the Olympic Games,” Agapitov said, assessing the chances of Russians in 2024 to compete in Paris. “It is not in the interests of Western countries, which are now exerting pressure for selfish purposes The absence of Russian athletes at the 2024 Olympics at all, or participation in a truncated, humiliated format — without a flag, an anthem and their best athletes — allows them to dream of success on the platform.»