MOSCOW, March 29, Sergey Fuks. Recommendations of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic committee regarding the admission of Russian athletes to international competitions do not contribute to resolving the situation, the athletes will not agree with the admission criteria developed by the IOC, says Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Alexander Legkov.
On Tuesday, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that international federations allow Russian athletes who did not support the CBO as neutral athletes to international starts, while suggesting that teams from Russia not be considered as participants in international competitions in team sports. The IOC also recommended that athletes associated with the armed forces or security agencies not be allowed to compete. In matters of admission of Russian athletes, according to the recommendations of the IOC, public statements of athletes, including in social networks, participation in rallies and demonstration of symbols in support of the IOC, for example, the Z symbol, should be taken into account.
““The IOC, it seems, was trying to please everyone, to look decent, but in fact … It is impossible to imagine that our athletes would do this. Now I heard from the corner of my ear that (the head of the Russian Biathlon Union Viktor) Maygurov said that biathletes can leave law enforcement agencies «I don't know if there is a reasonable grain in this, but let's imagine that everyone quits and travels in a neutral status, then it turns out that they do not support our president and everything that happens. There are more than one criterion, so it's impossible to imagine,» Legkov said.
“Now they say that they are trying to divide our sport, create chaos, split society, but I think that none of the athletes will do this. They all perfectly understand that they live and work here. Probably one of the individual athletes individual federations — tennis or maybe boxing — will be able to compete at the Olympics, but otherwise I don’t see any progress in this matter. Of course, athletes have their own lives, their own destiny, it’s up to them, but the IOC is now destroying them. They ( IOC) showed no readiness for our athletes to compete,» he added.
Legkov has the rank of Major of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“It’s hard for me to say what would have happened if such criteria had been introduced during my career, but I don’t even have such thoughts. Of course, I don’t run anymore, and now everyone will say to me:“ Of course, it’s easy for you to discuss and say that you would not go! «. If you transfer this story to my career, I can't imagine that I would have changed everything and gone to the Olympics,» the source said.
«This is another neutral status» According to Legkov, the current requirements for the neutral status of Russians cannot be compared with those in force at the Olympics of past years.
“Now the topic is completely different, and this is a different neutral status. But what about our guys who are serving now, fighting for the country? Once I spoke out that we should travel under a neutral status, but I was talking about a different situation, this not a doping scandal already. Therefore, my opinion is: none of the athletes will twitch and will not go anywhere, everyone will be here. You just need to do something here, «said the Olympic champion.
Legkov called the current situation a dead end.
““Such a time now, it’s sad, and I’m very sorry for the young athletes who would definitely achieve results and become Olympic champions. While there is not even a way out of this situation, we can procrastinate it in different directions, but in fact it’s useless zero. There are a lot of criteria, because of which our athletes will not go and which our athletes will not approve. They understand that the country, the president and the government do a lot for them, and how to change it all? They have always been supported, and they must just refuse and say: “Sorry, we need the status of an Olympic champion”?”, – he added.
«I sincerely support all athletes and wish them to have the opportunity to go and win. I'm sure that our leaders would definitely come with medals. It's a pity that so far this is all just words. I hope that all this will someday will be decided, God forbid, and everything will be fine,» the agency's interlocutor concluded.