We are waiting for the IOC's decision, this weekend, while they seek legal advice about the implications of a blanket ban. I just wanted to add my thoughts about this to the pot. It isn't a purely legal decision, it is also ethical, and it is about the future of the Olympic movement. Just my ideas, and please add your own in the comments. Clean Russian athletes cannot speak out about their country's behaviour; have you seen what happens to dissenters? Russian people are seeing life through their own media mirror that only partly reflects the way that we see things. The gymnasts can only speak through their performances. They are part of an international community of peers who support their participation in the Games. If Olympism is about promoting harmonious relationships and world peace, if what we are seeing on a broader level is the beginning of a new Cold War, how awful to isolate these individuals from their wider community and to deny them the right t...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources.
Ok, if IOC will ban whole Russian team from Rio, that means that we will see Mustafina in Tokyo 2020?
ReplyDeleteIf so, her supreme performances in Bern are to be her swan songs, I suppose.
DeleteI doubt we'll see Aliya in 2017, let alone Tokyo! There's now even a chance we'll never see her compete again!
ReplyDeleteSigh. This is all so awful.
All the United States papers are stating the ban went through....WTF?!!! These are reputable papers.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete