I have to think very carefully about what I give exposure to on RRG, either here in the main blog, or over on X and Facebook. I am particularly thoughtful when it comes to sharing anything that shows individual gymnasts as choosing to support the War, as that could be damaging well beyond the extent of this horrible conflict, and who knows what goes on?
Furthermore, I do not want to promote material that could inadvertently give weight to the cause of war. All war is wrong. The arms industry and politicians are the only winners. The rest of us lose - we pay with our lives.
So, should I give air to this picture? What if people take this as implicit support for the War?
The picture, an internet meme created by those working for the Russian state, is currently sitting on the Instagram site of RIA Novosti - a Russian government supported media and news outlet. It shows three gymnasts - they look like Ablyazin, Belyavski and Dalaloyan, during an Olympic medal ceremony, but they have their backs to us - with a caption explaining that none of the Russian gymnasts have chosen to try for individual qualification to the Olympics, out of loyalty to their country. No, stronger than that - they do not want to ‘wave the white flag’.
The same image appears on one of the gymnasts’ social media accounts, with a broken heart emoji and the words ‘in times of trouble, we should support our homeland’.
Nobody wants to miss the Olympics, but the structure of Russian gymnastics - state funded, with clubs chosen for the athletes as children, the clubs mostly with some form of military association - has made it unlikely from day one that any gymnast might meet the IOC and FIG criteria to compete on a neutral basis.
Is this really a ‘conscious decision’ on the part of the gymnasts and coaches, as RIA has written that Vasily Titov, President of the RGF, has said? The gymnasts are high profile, part of their country’s policy of sport as communication. Their salaries are paid by the government. Since childhood their families have received Government support to buy food and clothing for their child - and in Russia, such support is frequently needed to reach a minimum standard of living. The Olympians and national team members are well off, even wealthy by the standards of most Russians - but in wartime, that can come at a cost. If you follow the news from Russia, you will know what I mean.
I am maintaining my silence. Even Nagorny, who seems to relish his close connection to Putin, has family interests to protect - who knows what goes on?
The actions of the Russian state are abominable, its brutality is vented not only on Ukraine but also on its own people. What would you do, if you were in the gymnasts’ shoes?
As a former Australian athlete who was also a cadet in the navy, I received support from the Australian government for 20 years. They gave me housing, supplied my food, medicines and gave me a government payment. The military heavily sponsors certain Australian sports. By your rules I would be banned as would many other Aussies.
ReplyDeleteIf Russia are banned, the US, England, France, Germany, Israel, Canada, Rwanda, Myanmar and Australia and many other nations should be too. All the blood-soaked colonial conquerors who have murdered millions and continue to do so to this day should be treated equally
What would I do in the gymnasts' shoes? I would (and do) condemn the IOC and all the supporters of their illegal, immoral, selective, racist collective punishment