Russian Olympics champion is proud of Putin and complains about Russia's humiliation by "overwhelming minority"

The head of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, believes that the demand for Russian athletes to condemn the war in Ukraine is the desire of the "vast minority". He called such actions discrimination against representatives of the aggressor country.

Mamiashvili said this in a comment to Sport-Express. In the best traditions of Kremlin propaganda, the Seoul-88 Olympic champion equated Russian patriotism with support for dictator Vladimir Putin and tried to ridicule the conditions for allowing athletes from Russia to participate in international competitions.

"Let's live by the law. There should be no discrimination. Now, if you are too proud of your president, you have to sign a paper saying that the country is bad in order to compete for a medal or run. These things humiliate the civil and personal dignity of any person. We have to stay strong. We must not give up on Coca-Cola and do our job. We have the strength to do so with this country, president and people. We are under tremendous pressure from the overwhelming minority that is imposing rules," Mamiashvili said.

Earlier, he spoke out in favour of "going to Paris in tanks" after learning of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) plans to allow Russians to participate in the 2024 Games as a refugee team.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Olympic athletics champion Yuri Borzakovsky explained Russia's suspension from international tournaments by saying "they are afraid of us, we are the best".

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