Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Eduard Latypov expressed hope that Russian athletes will return to international competitions. At the same time, the lieutenant of the Russian criminal army stressed that this should happen without the preconditions previously recommended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Latypov said this in an interview with the propaganda TV channel Match TV. He also added that foreign athletes seem to be looking forward to the opportunity to compete with representatives of the aggressor country, but did not name any specific names of his biathlon colleagues.

"A lot of time has passed while we are in limbo... I hope that everything will return to normal, and common sense will prevail, and we will be allowed to participate in international competitions without any checks and so on. And we will prove who is the strongest on the tracks. We are preparing, training and waiting for our moment. I hope the recommendations will be relaxed, just like in other international federations. It is only a matter of time. I communicate with foreign guys, they all support us and want us to come back," Latypov said.

Recall: The IOC has recommended that international federations suspend Russian athletes involved in the Russian army and law enforcement agencies, as well as team sports, from competitions.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova called Germany's initiatives not to issue visas to Russian athletes to participate in competitions in the country shameful.

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