Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov announced that the two-time Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva will not be expelled from the ROC executive committee, as she continues to work as a member of the IOC from Russia. The Sport correspondent talks about why this fact is more important for our country than the athlete's seemingly dubious public statements.
«Russia is a country with an unpredictable past.» The authorship of the quote is attributed to the politician Winston Churchill, and the journalist Nikolai Svanidze, and the writer Mikhail Zadornov. Where the truth is is not so important. It is much more important that the validity of this phrase manifests itself regularly and in the most diverse spheres of Russian reality. And lately, especially. We will not list the names now, you already know them very well — but the number of artists who used to be heroes of our time, but now have become defectors, is directly frightening.
So the sport was marked by such unpredictability — and even how deafening. Yelena Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion, world record holder and, what is there, one of the brightest and most beautiful faces of the country, literally in a few days turned into a person whose name they want to remove from the facade of the stadium in the capital of her father’s homeland Dagestan. And that's just a tiny part of what came down on the outstanding athlete for her sensational statement that she was a «man of the world», wearing the shoulder straps of a «nominal» major.
I confess that it is very difficult to reason about Isinbayeva — simply for the reason that I have often crossed paths with an outstanding athlete. And not only in the mixed zones and under the stands — although personal memories of her emotional speeches after the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2013 World Cup in Moscow would be enough. No, I came to her in Volgograd, and visited her arena for training, and did interviews «for life». Yes, I cannot agree with what Elena said in her social networks — but this will not erase the impressions that remain from communicating with her in my memory.
Therefore, I do not support the fact that Isinbayeva is now credited with a lot of things that are very well characterized by the phrase from the «Prisoner of the Caucasus» — «what, did I also destroy the chapel?» I don't think you should do it. Of course, the Olympic champion is clearly hypocritical when she talks about the «nominal» attitude towards the army in the presence of a huge number of photographs of her in military uniform. But it is hardly appropriate for us to blame Elena, for example, for the fact that she lives in Spain.
After all, when she was in Monaco, and everyone knew about it, did it occur to anyone to accuse her of betrayal? No, they were completely calm. Every citizen of Russia has the right to choose the place where he wants to live and raise his children, this right is given to him by the Constitution. What is called, the hat is inappropriate here. And if this fact is an obstacle to Isinbayeva being a member of the All-Russian Popular Front, from where she was expelled on Thursday because she stopped participating in its work, then I would like to ask — when Elena was accepted there, did they not know that she lives in Europe?< br>There is a feeling that many officials have felt too strongly heated degree of condemnation of Isinbayeva in the information space.
“I don’t care where the great champion lives,” said the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili. “She has every right, she earned her money with everyday work and excellent results. about her words about «nominal» ranks, then what's wrong with that — she didn't run after the tank, she wasn't a gunner.
The day before, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Stanislav Pozdnyakov, also spoke on the topic of Isinbayeva. “Much has already been said. Elena, unfortunately, has distanced herself from the ROC for two years, where she is a member of the executive committee. We haven’t seen her for two years. That’s all I can say on this topic,” Pozdnyakov said. But in response to the question whether Isinbayeva could be excluded from the members of the ROC executive committee, he reacted as follows: «No way. In accordance with the charter, an IOC member is a member of the NOC executive committee. As long as she is a member of the IOC, she guaranteed by the charter».
I would like to add — maybe this thesis should be based on our position on Isinbayeva in the future, so that we again do not have an unpredictable past? In the end, she really did not commit any crime, and to make a statement on social networks, she could be required to the IOC to continue working there. And in this organization, a highly respected Russian athlete can be very useful. After all, someday, and absolutely all our leaders say this, Russia will return in a full-fledged status to the Olympic movement. And, perhaps, Isinbayeva will help to ensure that this happens sooner rather than later.
Of course, the moral side of her statement now may seem unattractive. We all understand what time we live in. But Isinbayeva continues to be a person who brought glory to Russia for many years — and this is a fact. And at the moment it is not at all obvious that Elena will not adequately represent the interests of our country at IOC meetings. In the end, Stirlitz also said a lot of things that it would be impossible to forgive him, not knowing what he really did. So maybe we should wait for Isinbayeva's real cases in Lausanne and then draw conclusions?
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.