Russian sport cannot be canceled – KP.Ru
Irina Viner-Usmanova assessed the scale of the impact on all Russian sports, not only for us, but also for the world
A photo: GLOBAL VIEW ON THE PRESS
The International Press Center “Russia Today” hosted a round table on the topic “Sport is out of politics: why do world justifications for tolerance not pursue the interests of Russian athletes?”
Irina Viner-Usmanova, President of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Federations, Irina Gromova, Senior Coach for Skiing and Biathlon among the recognized winners of the ODA, Stanislav Koryakin, member of the Expert Council of the Union of Russian Cities, Anastasia Maksimova, Olympic Champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics, and Yana Kudryavtseva, Vice-Champion of the Olympic Games, took part in it. , political scientist Anna Fedorova.
The discussion was moderated by Daria Kislitsina, head of the program collection department of the Expert Research Community (EISR).
The discussion focused on the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace. It was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly 9 years ago. According to Universal Human Rights Dependency, there should be no distinction based on the legal or international status of the country to which the athlete belongs. But these universally recognized court decisions have come into force today with respect to Russian athletes. Which casts doubt on the thesis “sport is out of politics”.
BIG RUSSIAN SAD
Olympic champion of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro in rhythmic gymnastics Anastasia Maksimova spoke about the acute sense of injustice:
– It is a great sadness for the whole country that Russian athletes do not allow an early offensive, not even under a neutral flag – but simply do not allow the possibility of attacking astronomical starts at all. And, despite the impossibility of performing at an extremely important level now, each of our teams continues to train. For example, in rhythmic gymnastics we continue to train in a common environment with the great coaches Irina Alexandrovna. No one allows us to lose heart, does not allow us to give up, despite such a difficult situation.
WILL AND MIND
Irina Viner-Usmanova assessed the scale of the impact on all Russian sports, not only for us, but also for the world:
– A sense of injustice, as a revelation, prevails over a sense of justice – and this is a bad story for a share of the Russian population. Sasha Bolshunov, who won three gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing, today cannot be a warrior outside of Russia—doesn’t this impoverish not only our country, but also the world? Yes, we continue to compete at domestic competitions, where European and world records are shown, but… When Russophobia becomes so extreme, where is the place for pure sport? Despite the fact that our children are hard workers, and the girls who perform are heroes. Yanochka Kudryavtseva ended up with a broken leg, and Nastya Maksimova with an even greater injury. But we always wanted to restore. The programs taught interesting and complex elements. Include elements that can do everything. And we have been adapting to programs for many years. Despite the fact that the number of athletes participating in the Games has been decreasing all the time, from year to year. But we still work, and the whole world sees from year to year which program is better, and who deserves to stand on a pedestal. But at present, the entire system of the Olympic movement is being implemented – and it is impossible to convey in words how applicable it is to the whole world. After all, people came to watch the competitions of the strongest – and what are they looking at now? After such suspensions of Russia, I am afraid not only for gymnastics, which becomes simply uninteresting without our participation.
BELIEF IN THE BEST
Thirteen-time world champion in gymnastics Yana Kudryavtseva
– I wrote for Russia for many years. In these cases, all over the world, my whole life has passed. Competition, rivalry with the best of the best – that was the meaning of life. No one could stop us – neither the opponents nor the judges. And it’s very sad to see how we check justice now. But our principle is simple – we must continue to fight further, we must train and believe in the best. Tomorrow will come – and we will return anyway, and those who wished us harm will remember this.
PARALYMPIANS HAVE IT HARDER THAN EVERYONE
The head coach of the country’s Paralympic team, Irina Gromova, suffered a blow with the removal of the team from the Paralympics a month ago.
– To say about the decline in mood means to say nothing. Before the expulsion from Beijing, we sang the Russian anthem all over the country. Then they treated us dishonestly, although not for the first time – and then they allow such a surge of emotions. True, we were surprised that it is so widespread. But we always repeated that we remain Russians in any situation, that we are our beloved country, no matter how the situation develops around us.
Well, what mood can we have when we have already missed the second Paralympic Games? Any athlete trains to go to the start and show that he is the strongest. It is currently unclear whether we will have fees or further development. We are not as famous as the “regular champions”, and everything is more difficult with us, including in the flat-the same basic finish. Even without hands, you can go in for sports almost everywhere, but in wheelchairs – far from everywhere. Let’s see how it will be implemented.
“SPORT OUTSIDE POLITICS” DEAD
Anna Fedorova believes that the hysteria around Russian athletes is especially painful.
– It’s a crazy story. I had to say goodbye to the slogan “sport outside politics”, probably forever. Here, for example, “human rights activists” from Toronto write about Russian athletes: These people are Russians. And, therefore, their merits are unimportant. We must use them as soft power.
That is, our athletes, not amenable to any consideration, even their wills are assumed in the conclusion.
And all public athletes are getting their valid visas back – unless they ask for asylum. The columnist for The New York Times indignantly exclaims: are we really going to allow the growth of athletes to be restored without looking at us?
No Russia – no problems, so they write. It doesn’t matter what these people really believe. An unprecedented company of pressure has been launched in Russia in general and in sports in particular. They: we will try to achieve great success, and we are going to make a demand – including to attract some of the Russian athletes to publicly dissuade their country. And this is not drawing athletes into a pre-trial detention center? So the West enters a period of moral bankruptcy and it is sad to look at it.
MANY COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE THE GAME
Stanislav Koryakin recalled that for a number of reasons, countries were “removed” from international sports.
– A historical digression is very necessary here. And the contradictions here will be more sensitive. If you look at the documents. including the Olympic Charter, then playing sports is one of the human rights. Any discrimination on all grounds is denied. Sport outside of politics is declared in the documents of the founders of the Olympic movement. But there were precedents when documents were pushed aside. When there were two Vietnams, the socialist republic was not represented in the IOC, but only South Vietnam. Israel was banned from the Games in 1966. Yugoslavia.
The famous Baron de Coubertin, who revived the Olympic Games, said that the French soldiers were physically worse than the Germans, after which France took 10 times more awards at the Games than Germany. When South Africa was excluded from big sport, they successfully developed the Games for 30 years, including the American ones. Sport should serve the purpose that was declared – the strongest wins in the arena, in a fair fight, no matter what country they are from.