Putin: Russia will not declare "any blockade" of the Olympics

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

President Vladimir Putin said Russia would not interfere with athletes who want to take part in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. On the eve, the IOC removed the Russian national team, but allowed the participation of non-doping Russians under a neutral flag.

"We, without any doubt, will not declare any blockade, we will not prevent our Olympians from taking part [in the Olympics] if any of them wants to take part in their personal capacity," the Russian president said, speaking to the workers of the GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod.

Earlier on Wednesday, Putin announced there that he would run for a new presidential term.

This is the first comment by the Russian president after the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to bar the Russian national team from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The IOC Executive Board decided that only those Russian athletes who had not had a single case of doping in the past would be able to compete in the Olympic Games in South Korea. Moreover, they will have to perform under a neutral, Olympic flag, and in case of victory, they will not listen to the Russian anthem, but the Olympic anthem.

What Putin said

Putin unexpectedly admitted partial blame for the Olympic scandal, although he said in October that performing under a neutral flag would "humiliate the country."

"Firstly, I must say frankly that we ourselves are partly to blame for this, because we gave a reason for this. And secondly, I think that this reason was used in a not entirely honest way, to put it mildly," Putin said this time …

The Russian president called the principle of collective responsibility "dishonest". "No system of law in the world provides for collective responsibility," Putin reminded the workers. According to him, "most of the [doping] allegations are based on facts that are not proven in any way and are largely unfounded."

Before Putin's speech, politicians, officials and athletes had no consensus about whether Russia should boycott the Olympics and not send athletes there.

What the athletes said

Hockey player Ilya Kovalchuk said that it is “necessary” to go to the games. "To refuse is to surrender!" - he said. The athlete drew attention to the fact that for many athletes this will be the last opportunity to go to the Olympic Games.

Two-time world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva is one of the main contenders for gold at the Olympic Games in Korea

Two-time world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva spoke out more cautiously: “Will I go to the games?

A member of the Russian national biathlon team, Anton Babikov, said the athletes "will remain Russians, despite the color of the flag."

Six-time Olympic short track champion Viktor An, who has Russian citizenship, said he was ready to go to the Olympics in neutral status.

Athletes who have already finished their careers spoke more harshly about the suspension. Alexander Zubkov, head of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, deprived of two gold medals at the Games in Sochi, said that he "would not have imagined himself without the flag and even more so the anthem of our country."

His teammate Aleksey Voevoda, also stripped of medals, said at all that he would be "proud of those who will not go to the 2018 Olympics."

What officials say

The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, who has been temporarily deprived of the status of a member of the IOC, on the eve called the decision to remove Russia from the 2018 Olympics "controversial." Even before Putin's speech, he considered the "positive side" that Russian athletes could still be admitted to the Games, albeit after checking that they were not involved in doping.

The decision on the participation of Russian athletes under a neutral flag will be made at a meeting of the National Olympic Committee on December 12.

Alexander Zhukov was expelled from the International Olympic Committee yesterday

Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov, who was stripped of his Olympic accreditation by the IOC, also called the decision to remove the national team "controversial."

"Fair wrestling has always been at the heart of the development of sports in our country. Until we study the official documents following the meeting of the IOC Executive Committee, it is premature to give more detailed comments," the minister said.

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, a few hours before Putin's speech, said that Russian athletes should take part in the Games, despite the absence of the Russian national team and symbols.

“Athletes who go to the Olympics, and we know who they are, will have uniforms with white, red and blue colors. And in any case, we know that they will represent Russia. Therefore, they should go,” he said.

But the majority of Russian deputies and senators on the eve called for abandoning the trip to Korea. For example, the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Igor Lebedev (LDPR) said that the sports federations of Russia should announce a complete refusal to participate in the Olympics.

Another deputy speaker of the Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy (United Russia), called the removal of the national team "public humiliation." "For me, the performance of the Russian national team without our flag and anthem is unacceptable, because Russia is not just a great power, but a great sports power," he said.

On the contrary, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva expressed the opinion that Russia should not boycott the games:, which was adopted in 1984, we will step on the same rake."

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that "not a single athlete with a Chechen residence permit will compete under a neutral flag."

Suspension from games

On December 5, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee, following a meeting in Lausanne, decided to remove the Russian national team from the Winter Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang.

Individual Russian athletes will be able to go to the games under a neutral flag, who will be selected by a special working group, and then approved by the IOC. They will perform under the title of "Olympic athlete from Russia".

The Russian Olympic Committee was disqualified. Officials of the Ministry of Sports, as well as all the leaders of the official delegation of Russia at the games in Sochi, will not be able to go to Korea. Coaches and doctors, whose athletes have ever been caught doping, will not be able to go to the games.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko and former Deputy Sports Minister Yuri Nagornykh have been barred from participating in all future Olympics.

In addition, Russia must reimburse all costs associated with the anti-doping investigation - $ 15 million, the IOC Executive Board decided.