Russian Olympic champion calls boycott of aggressors absurd and talks about "peace deal with Ukraine"

The 2006 Turin Olympic champion Svetlana Zhurova expressed confidence that Russia will be fully restored to international competitions after the war in Ukraine ends. At the same time, the State Duma deputy said that a peace agreement with our country would be reached, after which Russian athletes would be able to compete with the national flag and anthem.

Zhurova said this in a commentary to the Sport Den Za Dnem ("Спорт день за днем") publication. She also called attempts to boycott tournaments attended by representatives of the terrorist country absurd and meaningless. She also noted that at the moment, the opportunity to participate in competitions in a neutral status should not be abandoned.

"I think that behind the scenes, everyone is negotiating and waiting. As soon as the settlement agreement with Ukraine is signed, I am sure that we will immediately be returned both the flag and the anthem. So what's the point of us hypothetically discussing any decisions... We can discuss their boycotts, because it looks absurd and ridiculous. We need to calm down a bit about this," Zhurova said.

Earlier, Sochi 2014 champion Alexander Legkov complained that Russian athletes "are already tired of running without the flag and anthem" and should be fully reinstated.

On January 25, the IOC issued a new statement regarding the suspension of athletes from Russia and Belarus, in which it noted that it was ready to consider the return of athletes from these countries to international competitions. However, the athletes must meet certain criteria, including not supporting the war in Ukraine. This caused outrage in Russia. In particular, a well-known Russian figure skating coach, Valentina Tyukova, accused Western countries of betrayal "after all that Russia has done for the world".

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Ilya Averbukh, the vice-champion of the Olympic figure skating games, called the IOC's demands that Russian athletes condemn the war in Ukraine "interference in their personal lives".

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