The Russian Wrestling Federation has announced that the country’s wrestling team will not be participating in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. This decision comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that several of Russia’s top wrestlers were ineligible to compete due to the ongoing sanctions surrounding the invasion of Ukraine.
According to the statement released by the Russian Wrestling Federation, a significant portion of the country’s wrestling talent, including “both talented youth and famous world leaders, winners of the Olympic Games,” were not granted permission to participate in the upcoming Olympics. The statement further expressed the federation’s displeasure with the “unsportsmanlike selection principle” used by the IOC, which they believe was aimed at “undermining the principle of unity of our team.”
Despite the fact that Russian wrestlers had managed to secure 16 out of the 18 possible Olympic quotas during the qualifying events, the IOC’s decision to exclude several of the team’s leaders has prompted the Russian Wrestling Federation to take a stand. In the statement, the federation declared that the “Russian Wrestling Federation, athletes and coaches of the Russian National Teams in freestyle, women’s and Greco-Roman wrestling will not follow the lead of politicians and will not allow the spirit of the Russian Team to be broken.”
The decision to opt out of the Olympic Games altogether is a significant one, as it means that there will be no Russian wrestlers competing in Paris in 2024. The statement from the Russian Wrestling Federation suggests that the federation believes that the absence of Russian athletes will diminish the “status of the Olympic Games as the most significant sporting event” and that the champions will not receive the “satisfaction of winning the Olympic tournament.”
The move by the Russian Wrestling Federation is the latest in a series of actions taken by Russian sports organizations in response to the ongoing sanctions and restrictions imposed by the IOC and other international governing bodies. It remains to be seen whether other Russian sports teams will follow suit and opt out of the Paris Olympics in a show of solidarity with the wrestling team.
Full statement:
On August 5-11, a wrestling tournament will be held in Paris (France) as part of the Olympic Games. Russian wrestlers, under conditions of sanction pressure, unreasonable restrictions and severe checks for admission, managed to win 16 Olympic quotas out of 18 possible, despite the fact that many team leaders, including both talented youth and famous world leaders, winners of the Olympic Games were not allowed to compete.
In mid-June, a list of admitted athletes was published on the resources of the International Olympic Committee, including only 10 Russian wrestlers, six of whom are far from the status of Russian team leaders.
During the qualifying events, in accordance with the rules of the Olympic Charter, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the charter of the United World Wrestling, which created all the conditions for selection on the basis of sports, in a fair and uncompromising fight Russian wrestlers won the right to participate in the Olympic Games.
However, the International Olympic Committee became an obstacle on the way of Abdulrashid Sadulaev to the third Olympic peak, did not give Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev, Musa Evloev and other wrestlers of the Russian National Team the opportunity to compete, and the United World Wrestling lost the last chance that the Olympic Games are a competition of the strongest .
In this regard, the executive committee of the Russian Wrestling Federation held an extended meeting with the Russian National Teams coaching staff in freestyle, women’s and Greco-Roman wrestling and with athletes who received invitations to the Olympic Games, and came to an unanimous decision – to refuse to participate in the Olympic Games .
The Russian Wrestling Federation, athletes and coaches of the Russian National Teams in freestyle, women’s and Greco-Roman wrestling will not follow the lead of politicians and will not allow the spirit of the Russian Team to be broken. We do not accept the unsportsmanlike selection principle that guided the International Olympic Committee when forming the list of eligible athletes, the purpose of which is to undermine the principle of unity of our team.
The Russian Wrestling Federation has always been and remains open to fair and uncompromising wrestling in open and equal relations. We are confident that the absolute majority of the wrestling world supports us. Any sane person understands that the status of the Olympic Games as the most significant sporting event is being questioned, and wrestling competitions without Russian athletes will be incomplete, and the champions will not receive the satisfaction of winning the Olympic tournament.
