I understand the emotion. For example, how could Nagorny (a Russian World and Olympic champion) compete alongside Ukrainian rivals when he has openly endorsed the war, and even encouraged his Russian team mates to join up and take part in the military action?
In this video FIG President Watanabe is welcomed to Round Lake, Russia’s national training centre for gymnastics, by Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko and the aforementioned Nikita Nagorny. Rodionenko is a long-serving member of the international gymnastics community. He has been head coach of Soviet, Australian, Canadian and, now, the Russian teams.
Watanabe is campaigning for votes in his quest to be voted IOC President. That’s like the Prime Minister of the UK putting himself forward as Head of NATO - it’s a big step. Also standing for the IOC role, amongst others, is former British athlete Sebastian Coe. He would support a return of Russia to international sport if a peace deal in Ukraine is struck.
The FIG has recently welcomed nine Russian gymnasts back into the international fold, as individual neutral athletes. No doubt this will win Watanabe friends as he prepares for the final vote in the IOC Presidential elections at their meeting later this month (18th to 21st March 2025).
I’ll be pleased to see the gymnasts back in the international arena, but Watanabe is playing a dodgy political hand here, considering the state of world politics.
The Russian athletes are banned because of western soft influence. When Ana Bărbosu and Amalia Ghigoarță went to compete in the US (joining many other internationals), that is american soft power. But obviously that is fine and dandy
ReplyDeleteHow can they compete against one another? Because they are grown-ups. Do Syrians compete? Israelis? Indians and Pakistanis (and Chinese)? What about the americans? They're at war constantly. And so are you. Sportspeople look beyond these things. You should try that sometime
Did Sebastian Coe's "morality" trouble him in Afghanistan, Iraq etc, etc, etc. His two-faced opinion matters now??? I don't think so. His hypocrisy is as obvious as yours
I’m totally agree with you. This situation is so hypocritical.
DeleteThe headline looks strong, but he is still supporting individual Russians who want to compete as neutral athletes. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/8eeac461c6e3-russia-cannot-compete-until-ukraine-war-over-world-gymnastics-head.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR00daS8TDv18tq62nzMKHzn9QbSBc5N_imDaCGFmFFvnrLee7f6bpP6bmU_aem_LVuTmT6S20bpMtcK4pw4yA
ReplyDeleteYou understand the emotion from one side - the side which portrays Ukraine as the innocent victim. The Ukrainian people themselves may be innocent victims but the Ukrainian state under the puppet Zelensky were the willing stooges and proxies of Western, primarily US interests. The emotion on the other side is equally valid -the side - the side which has been relentlessly provoked since around 1992 but especially with increasing intensity since 2014. Nagorny is a patriotic young man who is supporting his country, his president and his countrymen. Nothing he has said or done is "worse" (I don't think this word should apply at all) than anything said or done by any US gymnast who at any point over the last 50 years said they are proud of their country, support their president and thanked their armed forces (ie the very people who illegally invaded and destroyed country after country around the world). In this conflict the Russians are defending themselves against a perceived (ie you don't have to agree that it is really so) existential threat. In no conflict ever have the Americans fought in a war which they felt was an existential threat to them - not even WWII. So it is actually unfair to even suggest that Nagorny's support for his country in this war could equate to an American's support for their armed forces' actions in eg Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon, Libya, Syria... Sorry for the rant, but you got me with the first sentence which is written in a way to presuppose that we all agree that the Russkies are evil and the Ukrainians are as pure as the driven snow. We do not all agree this at all. In fact if you look around the world, you will see that the vast majority of the world (ie pretty much everywhere except Europe) is tending more and more to side with Russia.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your rant, but you grossly exaggerate the history of so-called American invasions and ignore the huge list of countries invaded by Russia and the former Soviet Union. How anyone can try to excuse the brutality, death and destruction committed by the Russians in Ukraine is shocking. Nothing, either perceived or real, justifies the suffering that the Ukrainian people are being subjected to.
DeleteThe level of ignorant stupidity coming out of Americans on social media is truly baffling. They talk like they have never fought a war of aggression. That it's always "self-defense" or defending democracy. They are utterly brainwashed...
DeleteWatanabe is just covering the IOC because he knows they screwed up. This is just a publicity stunt. What they did was despicable and he knows it. Gaza has proven that. The IOC are just a political pawn of western soft power