Russian Rublev refused to participate in the Olympics. He does not want to start as an independent athlete

Russian tennis player Andrei Rublev refused to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris, where he could have started as a neutral athlete.

The fifth player in the world ranking, Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, accepted the International Olympic Committee’s offer, as did Viktoria Azarenkova of Belarus. The IOC informed about it on its website.

Rublev is world number six, three years ago in Tokyo he won the Olympic gold in mixed doubles with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The Russian Tennis Association had previously stated that Rublev intended to miss the Paris Games due to health reasons.

Karen Chačanov, the Tokyo singles finalist, also refused to play in the French capital.

Changes also occurred in the originally selected foursome of Russian female tennis players. Diana Šnajderová and Mirra Andrejevová, who were opponents of the Czech representatives in Monday’s Wimbledon program, should also play.

In Paris, on the other hand, the number 12 of the WTA ranking Darja Kasatkinová, Anna Kalinská and Ljudmila Samsonová will not start.

Aryna Sabalenková of Belarus remained in the list so far. At the same time, the two-time Grand Slam champion had previously stated that she would miss the five-round tournament in order to be healthy and focus on preparing for the end of the season on hard surfaces.

On Monday, the world number three withdrew from Wimbledon before the first round match due to a shoulder injury.

A total of 12 Russian and Belarusian athletes have already refused the Olympic start. One of them is the Russian cyclist Alexandr Vlasov, a member of the Bora-hansgrohe elite team.

Due to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine with the support of Belarus, the official delegations of these countries and teams in collective sports are not allowed to participate in the Paris Games.

Athletes will be listed in the results with the abbreviation AIN denoting individual neutral athletes and their medals, if any, will not count towards the country ranking.

They will not be allowed to wear state symbols or colors on their clothing, and they will not be allowed to play the national anthem when they win.

2024-07-02 07:38:19
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