It should have been a great training session for the Olympics. But for Russian fencers, this spring weekend of national competitions in one of Moscow’s most flamboyant sports halls has become a goal in itself. With a big winner, after a day of crossing swords with her younger competitors: Sofia Velikaïa, multiple Olympic medalist since 2012, in London, Rio and Tokyo. The champion will not be in Paris this summer. No Russian fencer will go to these Olympics. “We are not going to divide our team into those who are popular and those who are ‘bad Russians’ in the eyes of the West.”warned Ilgar Mamedov, president of the Russian Fencing Federation.
Drastic conditions of neutrality
Between political tensions and sporting bitterness, the boycott threat has de facto been carried out. Two years after the Kremlin launched its “special operation” In Ukraine, Russia is still banned from the Olympic community. But the IOC has recommended that the authorities of each sport allow Russian athletes to participate in qualifying competitions as individuals and neutrals, without anthem or flag, without team or support.
The best fencers were automatically excluded, either for having supported the Kremlin’s military offensive or because of their membership in a sports club linked to the security forces. Others were eligible. But, as in many other sports, they did not enter the qualifiers. “If you love yourself more than your country, go to Paris…”threatened Ilgar Mamedov.
In cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling, athletes have indeed won their place in Paris. On June 27, the IOC unveiled a list of… 23 Russian athletes – a far cry from the 330 during the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. These athletes not only had to go through the qualification stage but they were also subject to double control, by their international federation then by the IOC. Two imperatives: not to have actively supported the offensive in Ukraine and not to be linked to the army or national security agencies.
These athletes will wear a jersey decorated with the acronym “AIN” (independent and neutral athlete) on an apple green background with, in the event of victory, a short musical composition as an anthem. And they will be excluded from the opening ceremony. In Moscow, authorities and public media accuse the IOC of having “turned into racism and neo-Nazism”federation presidents judging these conditions “humiliating”.
“Games of shame”, “rampant athletes”: athletes under pressure not to go to Paris
Since then, one of the few big qualified Russian names has preferred to withdraw: cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov. “The profile of the Parisian track does not suit him. And his schedule is very busy”, justified his federation. These truly false explanations hide another reality: Russian athletes are subject to strong political and media pressure not to go to Paris.
“Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin allowed athletes to participate individually. But the president should have imposed a boycott. These Olympics are games of shame », confides a renowned sports journalist. Like others, for months he has launched the offensive against athletes who, sufficiently “virgin” politically, are accepted by the IOC but are seen in Moscow in “traitors”The president of the rhythmic gymnastics federation even warned that “The participants will form a team of homeless people, totally dehumanized. The people will not forgive them.” And former Soviet gymnast Lidia Ivanova denounced “a handful of groveling athletes”.
While, in reality, Russian athletes are now training in a closed country with no Olympic ambitions, many pretend to focus on other events: the BRICS games that have just been held in Kazan on the banks of the Volga with athletes from this organization of emerging countries (South Africa, Brazil, China, India, Russia, etc.); but above all, in Moscow in September, the “Friendship Games” to which athletes from all over the world will be invited. “friendly countries”.
“These events are designed to complement the Olympic movement, which has been transformed into an instrument of Western policy.”denounced Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Kremlin, for its part, promised that the winners will receive bonuses and statuses usually awarded to Olympic medalists…
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Who will benefit from the absence of the Russians?
On June 27, the IOC released a list of 23 Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes invited to Paris, in seven disciplines (rowing, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, weightlifting, tennis and shooting). 10 of them have already declined, including two big names in tennis: the Russian Andrey Rublev, world number 6, and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world number 3.
According to a study by the independent Russian media outlet Holod, In July 2023, more than 200 Russian athletes took steps to obtain another nationality and thus try to qualify under other colors.
While Russia is the second most successful nation at the Olympics since 1896, the absence of the Russians – there were 335 in Tokyo – promises a much more open Games, particularly in the Russians’ flagship disciplines such as fencing or gymnastics.
