Russian Judo Federation Boycotts Paris Olympics Over “Humiliating Conditions” Set by IOC

The Russian judo federation has decided not to send its athletes to the Paris Olympics, denouncing the “humiliating conditions” set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which yesterday authorized only four Russian judokas out of 14 categories. “The Russian national judo team will not accept these humiliating conditions,” the IOC said in a statement, believing that “such actions by the IOC undermine the credibility of the Olympic movement” and “destroy the status of the Olympic Games” as “the most important sporting event” in the world. “Of the 17 judokas who had obtained Olympic qualification, the IOC authorized only four to participate,” the Russian Federation regretted. If 17 Russian judokas had obtained enough points to qualify, only 14 would have been able to go to Paris: each nation can register only one judoka per weight category (seven female categories, seven male). The IOC, which initially banned athletes from the two countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has since organized their gradual return, under a neutral flag and under certain conditions. To be invited, “neutral individual athletes” had to overcome both the qualification hurdle and a double check, by the international federations then the IOC, of ​​their lack of active support for the war in Ukraine and ties to the military. Only Dali Liluashvili, Elis Startseva, Makhmadbek Makhbadbekov and Valerii Endovitskyi were named to the IOC list.

2024-06-29 18:14:44
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