"To speak badly of Putin is to betray oneself": Russian Olympic champion in a patriotic frenzy refuses to participate in the Olympics

Russian taekwondo athlete Maksim Khramtsov sacrificed his performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris for an epic bow to dictator Vladimir Putin. The winner of Tokyo 2020 was denied entry to the main tournament of the quadrennial after he called it his duty to support "any decision" of the Kremlin leader.

Khramtsov himself spoke about this in an interview with the Sport Daily publication. The 27-year-old athlete added with a special flourish that criticizing Putin is a real betrayal, thus confirming his full approval of the war that the head of the Russian terrorist state has launched against Ukraine.

"We are Olympic champions, we respect and support our president. I have said this openly. I support him. He is my president, I am proud of him and will support any of his decisions. This is my duty, and I think it is the right thing to do. Perhaps this was the reason for my suspension, but I didn't lie, I didn't cheat, because this is important to me. I believe that the president is our leader, and to say something bad about your leader is to betray yourself first and foremost," Khramtsov said.

Interestingly, last July, the athlete was outraged by his exclusion from the Olympics "simply because he is Russian."

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasilyev called doping a "ridiculous reason for the suspension" of Russian athletes.

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