“We can’t imagine being on a podium together, training together in a gym or a swimming pool. » While around forty Russian and Belarusian athletes could take part in the Paris Olympic Games under a neutral banner, Vladyslava Aleksiiva is revolted. Bronze medalist with her sister Maryna at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, within the Ukrainian artistic swimming ballet, the 22-year-old swimmer cannot imagine that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would allow the country having invaded hers for two years of sending representatives to France this summer.
“It’s a horrible decision. the twins chant in one voice. Some of our athletes defend our country and our freedom on the battlefield. The Russians support this war, when the Olympic Games should symbolize peace. » If 436 athletes had already represented these two nations in Tokyo (including 335 Russians) under the name “ROC” for “Russian Olympic Committee”, this time it is no longer a question of state doping but of geopolitical sanction. And thus a new name “AIN”, for “neutral individual athlete”. The measures are therefore intended to be more repressive: exit the…
