Paris 2024 Olympic Games: “These are not the Olympic Games, it is a parody of competition”, Russian wrestlers unanimously refuse to participate

Il n'y aura pas de lutteurs russes à Paris. XinHua – Wang Yuguo

The Russian Wrestling Federation announced on Saturday that its wrestlers authorized to participate in the 2024 Olympics had “unanimously” refused to participate in the Olympic Games. to go to Paris, denouncing a "parody of competition".

"We do not accept the non-sporting principle of selection on which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) based itself in establishing its list of ;#39;authorized athletes whose objective is to undermine the unity of our team", explained the Federation in a press release.

"Russian wrestlers were able to obtain 16 Olympic licenses out of 18 possible (…) under conditions of threats of sanctions and unfounded restrictions", the press release said. But, in its list of Russian wrestlers authorized to participate, the IOC ultimately retained only ten, excluding the most successful, including the double Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev and the double world champion Zaur Uguev.

Thus, "the unified world of wrestling lost its last chance to see a competition between the strongest at the Olympic Games", estimated the Russian Wrestling Federation.

"An unjustified dictatorship of the IOC"

In this context, the presidency of the Wrestling Federation organized a meeting with the invited wrestlers and their coaches and "a decision was taken unanimously", according to the same source. "These are not the Olympic Games, it's a parody of competition", said the president of the Russian Federation of struggle, Mikhail Mamiashvili, to the official Tass agency.

"An unjustified dictatorship of the IOC resulted in this organization itself beginning to define the composition of the selections. It's already too much", he protested.

The International Olympic Committee authorized Russian athletes at the beginning of December to participate in the Paris Games (July 26-August 11) on the condition that they compete under a neutral banner, excluding team events, ;#39;they did not actively support the Russian offensive in Ukraine and passed the qualification hurdle.

Deprived of their flag and anthem, many Russian athletes have already chosen to give up, denouncing discriminatory criteria ". Others have seen the Olympic door closed because of their support for the Russian assault or because they are in clubs linked to the armed forces or security, with regard to the conditions set by the IOC.