"They stole my dream just because I'm Russian": Russian Olympic champion complains about his suspension from the 2024 Olympics

Russian taekwondo player Maksim Khramtsov is outraged by his exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The 26-year-old athlete, who won gold in Tokyo 2020, pretended not to understand the reasons for the sanctions, although he did not hide his attitude towards the aggressor country's Ministry of Defense.

Khramtsov said this in an interview with Sports.ru. The world champion and two-time European champion called the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) discrimination based on nationality and accused the organization of stealing his dream of competing at the Games.

"I don't understand how you can suspend an athlete simply because he is Russian. How can you deprive someone of a dream because of a passport? I have been working towards this my whole life. And I deservedly qualified for this Olympics. In the qualifying tournament, in the final, my jaw was broken in the first round and I was knocked out... But I wanted it so badly that I managed to get myself together, pulled through the second and third rounds, and won. That's how I got my Olympic license. And then they took it away. Just like that," Khramtsov said, noting his hypocrisy.

Earlier, Russia's full judo team refused to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris after the team's main stars were not allowed to compete.

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