MOSCOW, March 31 Sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev reacted harshly to the words of the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be welcome in France during the 2024 Olympic Games.
Hidalgo visited Kiev this week, where she spoke with local athletes, the head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadim Gutzeit, and also by the mayor of Kiev Vitaliy Klitschko. During the conversation, she told the athletes that Paris would greet them as heroes, and they would feel at home.
“» Hidalgo is lying! A huge number of French and Parisians are in love with the Russian Federation. I know dozens, if not hundreds of examples when Russians came to Paris even after the start of the SVO and felt almost at home there. Ordinary French people favor us, so the jurisdiction of the mayor of Paris at the Olympics will be absent, because the Olympic family rules there, which has developed an admission system. I ask Hidalgo not to lie, but go to hell,” Sport24 quotes Guberniev as saying.
The International Olympic Committee allowed Russians to participate in the Games in Paris in an individual neutral status, subject to a number of criteria. A special flag and anthem have been approved for neutral athletes. Russians will not be allowed to participate in the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony, and their awards will not be displayed in the medal table. Due to restrictions on participation in qualifying competitions, a maximum of 55 Russian athletes will be able to qualify for the Games. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that “international officials are distorting the meaning of the Olympic movement and undermining the foundations of international sport.”
The Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11.