MOSCOW, January 3, Svetlana Bonopartova. Athletes of the Russian national team artistic gymnastics are not ready to compete at international competitions in a neutral status, said senior coach of the national team Valentina Rodionenko.
Previously, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) issued admission to competitions in a neutral status for four Russian athletes. Permission from FIG was received by Yana Lebedeva, Angela Bladtseva, Kirill Kozlov and Danila Kasimov, all of whom compete in trampolining.
““I’ll say straight away that in artistic gymnastics there are no athletes who would apply to participate in competitions in a neutral status. We had access, but as neutral athletes we refused to apply. We will not compete under such conditions,” — Rodionenko said.
In July 2023, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced the admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions in a neutral status from January 1, 2024. Neutral status was issued to 32 Belarusian athletes; Russians were not represented on the list until this moment.