"Nothing is our fault": Russian Olympic champion complained about suspension of Russians

Rio de Janeiro-2026 Olympic champion Anastasia Tatareva has complained about the allegedly unfair suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions. The gymnast added that athletes from the Russian Federation suffered for nothing, as they were "not guilty of anything," but at the same time she kept silent about her country's military aggression against Ukraine.

Tatareva said this in a commentary to the portal Gazeta.Ru. The vice-champion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics repeated the traditional narratives about sports outside politics and the benefits of sanctions, because of which Russia is in isolation and allegedly developing domestic competitions.

"Of course, it is very offensive, pathetic and sad that such an unfair thing is done to athletes who are not guilty of anything, and sport has always been outside politics. Now we are convinced of the opposite. But I believe that we now have new opportunities to hold competitions at the level of the Olympic Games in our country. We have new talents growing up, young talents who compete and perform among themselves. Everywhere, no matter how sad and frustrating the situation may be, we should look for pluses. I believe that in rhythmic gymnastics we are doing it," Tatareva said.

Recall, the IOC has not sent Russia and Belarus an official invitation to the Olympics-2024 in Paris. Earlier, former footballer of the Russian national team Vladislav Radimov with the words "hands down" spoke against the participation of athletes from Russia at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 in a neutral status.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, former president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Leonid Tyagachev urged Russians not to express personal opinions about the participation of athletes at the Paris Games, "because we have any issue in sports is decided by Vladimir Putin."

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