Russia announces boycott of Paris Olympics, starting with judo
Date: 2024/06/30 15:16
The Russian Judo Federation has decided not to send representatives to the Paris Olympics, condemning the “insulting conditions” set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In response to the International Olympic Committee’s announcement on Friday night of a new list of Russian or Belarusian athletes allowed to compete in the Olympics, the Russian Judo Federation announced its decision to boycott the event in a press release issued late Friday to Saturday.
Russia declared: “The Russian National Judo Team will not accept these insulting conditions.” Russia said that “this behavior of the IOC damages the credibility of the Olympic Movement” and “undermines the status of the Olympic Games as the ‘most important sporting event’ in the world.” Russia complained that “of the 17 judokas who qualified for the Olympics, the IOC approved only four of them to participate,” Russia also said that “without Russian athletes, the judo competitions at this Olympics will be incomplete.”
According to AFP, 17 Russian judokas earned enough points to qualify, but only 14 will make it to Paris: each country can only send one judoka per weight category (seven women’s categories, seven men’s).
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC initially banned athletes from both countries from entering the country, after which it organized their gradual return under a neutral flag and under certain conditions.
To be invited, “neutral individual athletes” had to overcome qualification hurdles and undergo double checks by the then-international sports federations and the International Olympic Committee to prove that they were not actively supporting the war in Ukraine or had ties to the military in Russia.
Russian judo leader Inar Tasoev was therefore not included. In 2023, the heavyweight was defeated by Teddy Riner in the world final and was eventually crowned unified world champion after an arbitration dispute.
Tasoev and Tamerlan Bashayev, another Russian heavyweight who defeated Riina at the Tokyo Olympics, are part of a list of Russian athletes drawn up by the Ukrainian government who support the invasion of Ukraine.
2024-06-30 06:20:50
#Chinese #Herald #Network #Herald #News #Russia #announces #boycott #Paris #Olympics #starting #judo
