Not everyone reached Rio

Russia sends the Olympic team to Brazil, not knowing which of the athletes will be accurately admitted to the competition

In the early morning of July 28, a solemn ceremony of the Russian national team at the Olympics, which opens in Brazil, was held at the Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. On the eve of Russian athletes, President Vladimir Putin accepted and blessed Patriarch Kirill. However, it is still not clear which of the representatives of Russia will definitely be able to take part in competitions in Rio de Janeiro, uncertainty with this issue, as the Russian president recognized, is still preserved now. The list of athletes from Russia, final and agreed with the International Olympic Committee, may not be published earlier than Saturday.

The wires of the Russian Olympians to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were not too long, about 70 athletes arrived in Sheremetyevo-about a quarter of all those admitted at that time to participate in the competitions. Of the officials in the ceremony, only the president of the National Olympic Committee of Russia Alexander Zhukov took part. He called on Russian athletes to fight for the award, not paying attention to possible provocations. “We were waiting for this moment for a long time, the last days were difficult. I think that you are one of the best teams in the world. Remember the motto of the Olympiad in Sochi:“ One country is one team, ”said the President of the OKR.

The Minister of Sports of Russia Vitaly Mutko did not appear at the wire ceremony, he is deprived of official accreditation at the current Olympiad due to the possible involvement in the doping scandal around Russian athletes.

On July 24, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee did not prohibit the Olympic team of Russia in full force to participate in games in Brazil. At the same time, the IOC made an intermediate decision, giving the right to the international sports federations to remove Russian athletes from participating in these competitions. The decision of the federations for each Olympic, in turn, must confirm or refute the special judge of the sports arbitration court (CAS), the final lists of Russian athletes assumed to the Olympics certify the IOC.

All this happened after the publication of the report of the independent commission of the WADA World Anti-Doping Agency under the leadership of Richard McLaren , which said that the system of using doping by Russian athletes was supported by the state, and during the Olympics in Sochi in 2014, the FSB agents of the Russian Federation participated in the substitution of doping props, which significantly affected the results of the competition. To deprive Russia of the right to participate in the Olympiad was asked by sports federations of more than ten countries , as well as well -known athletes. "The Russian doping system is a terrible crime against the Olympic movement, and Russia must be punished," the British skeletonist, a repeated medalist of the Olympic Games and a member of the IOC (without voting) Adam Pengilli said in an interview with BBC. However, the IOC chose a soft version, allowing part of Russian athletes recognized as "pure", nevertheless participate in the Olympics in Rio. Nevertheless, in Russia this decision was called politicized and not based on real facts. Is it really so? Here is the opinion of the editor-in-chief of the Internet publication Sports.ru Dmitry Navoshi :

- It seems to me personally that this question is now in a religious plane. It is impossible to give any arguments that will change the positions of people who have occupied either one or another of these positions. I do not see politicization in this, I perfectly understand that the information pressure within the country, some shift in consciousness leads to the fact that even when they put the penalty on the goal of the Russian team, certain people believe that this is a political decision.

For some violation of the rules, some sanctions are entitled - this is how sport is arranged. The Olympic Charter also has the possibilities of such a punishment. From the very beginning, I was the opponent of the complete removal of the Russian team and, in principle, predicted in a large number of comments that it would not follow. Here I was already taking into account the political aspect. It seems to me that the full removal will not be useful to anyone from a pedagogical point of view, because Russia can finally close, perceive it as a step hostile to itself, and there are simply no conclusions, there will be no changes for which the investigation has been started.

So the admission may be a political decision, but the removal of those who are removed ... athletics in a special account, it was the main set of claims to it. I can’t say that this is illegal. The principle of collective responsibility - here, it seems to me, the conversation about whether it is justified or not. But legally there were every reason for this decision, ”says Dmitry Navosha.

But this decision of the International Olympic Committee, adopted less than two weeks before the start of the Games, finally confused the prospects for Russia's participation in the next Olympic Games. The next day, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph estimated that up to 90 percent of the Russian team may not be allowed to participate in competitions - only 40 out of 387, included in the preliminary application. However, these forecasts were too pessimistic.

The President of the Russian Rowing Sports Federation Benjamin Buta immediately replied that, according to his calculations, at least 200 athletes from Russia can get into Rio. On the morning of July 28, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, confirmed that international sports organizations have already allowed about 270 Russian Olympians to participate in the games. As a result, the Russian Olympic team at the Brazilian summer Olympiad can be missed by more than 100 athletes.

The most painful blow for her is the removal of almost the full force of the athletes team. Initially, such a decision was made by the International Association of athletics federations on the basis of numerous proven cases of using doping by Russian athletes and the revelations of the former chief specialist of the Russian anti -doping agency (Russia) Vitaly Stepanov and his wife, 800 m of Julia Stepanova. 68 Russian athletes, with the support of the National Olympic Committee of Russia, challenged the verdict in the sports arbitration court, but their lawsuit was rejected . Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko asked for the International Association of athletics Federations to change his decision, but was refused. Now, out of 68 athletes declared to participate in the Olympiad, only Russian jumps in the length of Daria Kishina , who has long been training in the United States, will be able to take part in it.

In addition, it was reported from participating in the Olympics of Russian weightlifters, but this information has not yet been officially confirmed - in the morning on Thursday, Alexander Zhukov only noted that "probably three" of them will be allowed to competition. There are noticeable losses in other sports.

In the academic rowing, for example, out of 28 pre -declared Russian athletes to participate in the Olympics, the profile international federation allowed only six, Russia lost seven participants from 67 in swimming, including the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the four -time champion of the world Julia Efimova .

Also slightly weakened by Russian teams in the rowing on kayaking and canoe, modern pentathlon and sailing. The Federations of other Olympic sports of sports for athletes from Russia in the Olympics have not yet been seen, but their conclusions, as Alexander Zhukov previously reminded, should still confirm the CAS judge and envy the International Olympic Committee.

That is why the coordination and approval of the final composition of the Russian national team at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro may take a few more days, an unnamed source told Interfax. "Russian national sports federations complet the process of reconciliation of lists with international federations, after which these lists will be sent to the OKR and then transferred to the International Olympic Committee. This should be done no later than Thursday. Thus, the final list can be approved by the Olympic Committee and published no earlier than the Sabbath," he said. On the morning of July 28, this information was confirmed by Alexander Zhukov. The final composition of the Russian Olympic team will become known no later than July 31, he said.

The atmosphere of uncertainty with the number of Russian athletes who will go to the Olympic Games is also worried about Vladimir Putin .

“By and large, we are talking about the threat and discrediting of the principles of equality, justice, mutual respect for the rights of the so -called“ pure ”athletes. In fact, this is an audit or an attempt to revise, in any case, the ideas of Pierre de Cubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games,” the Russian president said on a meeting with athletes of the country's national team. In the Kremlin, the delegation of the Russian Olympians, almost half of which were no longer allowed to the Games in Rio, came after the flow of flowers to the grave of an unknown soldier in the Alexander Garden.

Vladimir Putin promised to look at Russian leading athletes as the winners of the Olympiad-regardless of whether they would reach there or not. Russia, according to him, will do everything to defend the honor and dignity of athletes, unfairly deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games: "You know that, despite all attempts to give up a shadow at Russian athletes, to deprive them of the right to participate in the Olympiad, millions of fans from various countries of the world, including Russia, sincerely worry about our national team."

At the same time, according to Vladimir Putin, the situation with the Russian Olympians has gone beyond the framework of not only the legal field, but also common sense, but in the affairs of sports, which is designed to smooth out the contradictions between the states, short -sighted politicians are now interfering. Therefore, the Russian president concluded, the entertainment of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, due to the lack of Russian athletes, will be reduced, and the sample of the won medals will be different.

A parting prayer for Russian athletes in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin was performed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Cyril . “Today we will pray that you do not make mistakes. And the most important mistake is to succumb to all the pressure that was exerted on you. This will be a mistake. Therefore, we will pray that the Lord gives you strength, first of all, to abstract from these difficult circumstances. To forget about them,” the patriarch said.

At the end of the prayer, he sprinkled the holy water of each athlete and gave them the icon.