Olympic champion Alexander Legkov has become a laughingstock online after bowing to Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin. The former biathlete and winner of the Sochi 2014 Games faced caustic comments from fans after he declared his support for the "best" Russian president.

"I was lucky enough to run at the home Olympic Games, to win the royal race when the award ceremony was held at the close of the Olympics in the presence of our president. It's sad that I was the last athlete to see the flag and hear the Russian anthem at the awards ceremony. After Sochi, Russians competed at the Olympics without a flag. I hope they will return to this soon, and I dream that our athletes will return to this. Putin is the best. He supports athletes and sports, and we should support him," Legkov told the propaganda news agency TASS.

Readers of the Sports.ru portal noted that the doping Olympics champion contradicted himself, as after 2014, due to Putin's aggression against Ukraine, Russians lost the opportunity to compete under the national flag. In addition, the fans called Legkov's words a confirmation of the existence of a dictatorial cult in Russia.

"Who do you have to be to say such things now?", "It's true, he does a lot for his athletes. No Olympics, no flag, no anthem, no World Cup, nothing", "This is what a cult of personality looks like, kids", "Putin is the best" and "I am the last athlete to see the flag and hear the Russian anthem". In my opinion, Legkov has problems with causality", "Putinism of the brain", "He supports sports. That's why the athletes were left out", "How disgusting", "Destroyed the country and sport in front of the whole world", - people wrote in the comments.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not invite Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Games in Paris on 26 July.

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