MOSCOW, June 3, Andrey Simonenko. Olympic Champion 2016 in modern pentathlon, Alexander Lesun expressed the opinion that Russian athletes should agree to compete in international competitions, including the Olympic Games, in a neutral status.
At the end of March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be admitted to international tournaments in a neutral status if a number of conditions are met. Currently, Russians compete under a neutral flag in international tournaments, including world championships, in judo, taekwondo, tennis, cycling and some others.
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“I think you need to agree (to act in a neutral status,” Lesun told reporters. — With a flag, without a flag — the world elite knows where the person came from. And the fact that some undercover games are going on is secondary. If, for example, I would speak, everyone would know that I am from Russia. And the athlete has a short age. Everyone's dream is to compete in the Olympics. And in 20 years, no one will remember whether he performed there with the flag or not. The Olympic champion will still be remembered,” said Lesun.
IOC President Thomas Bach said in March that a decision on the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris would be made no earlier than a year before they start.
“Probably they will let us in, because everyone understands that we need a show for the same television, and without Russia there will be no normal competition in many sports. So they will somehow allow it. But this hassle is very annoying, especially for those athletes who are preparing for the Olympic Games,» Lesun said.
Earlier, the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) admitted Russian and Belarusian athletes to international starts and created a commission that will determine the list of athletes with a neutral status.
“This commission has a very strange composition. The only one who was seriously involved in pentathlon there — Egyptian Aya Medani. The rest of the people are incomprehensible to me. The representative of Belgium — I don’t remember that there was a pentathlon in this country at all. The President of the Federation of Sri Lanka — I’m not sure that there is a pentathlon there at all. I don’t understand how these people can allow or not allow athletes from Russia. It's all strange for me, but I'm still optimistic about this whole thing,» Lesun concluded.