"Pay the debt to the state": Russian Olympic champion called for provocations at 2024 Games

Russian skier Veronika Stepanova, whose intelligence has been compared to a washing machine, expressed confidence that athletes from the Russian Federation should organize provocations at the 2024 Olympics. The winner of the 2022 Games noted that she does not oppose the participation of athletes from the aggressor country in a neutral status as they can still show the prohibited symbols of a terrorist state.

Stepanova said this on the air of the Match TV propaganda TV channel, commenting on the conditions for the admission of athletes from the Russian Federation to the Olympics in Paris. According to the skier, she added that Russian athletes who will travel to the French capital next year are obliged to "pay their debt to the state."

"I will not condemn those athletes who decide to go to the Olympics. Perhaps they are ready to fight for victory and unfurl the Russian flag on the podium. How do I know? But I still believe that there is no point in going there if you are a tourist athlete who is supposedly hiding behind your last chance. You have to go there to defend the honor of Russia. Almost all sports in Russia are supported and funded by the state. Winning the Olympics is an opportunity to pay off the debt to the state for investing in this sport and in a particular athlete," Stepanova said.

Earlier, Ukraine's acting Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi called the IOC's decision to allow Russians to compete in the 2024 Games irresponsible and also named the condition under which our country would boycott the Olympics. The Russian Federation also reacted angrily to the conditions of athletes' admission to the competition.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the International Athletics Federation announced the complete exclusion of Russian athletes from the Olympics in Paris.

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