"Walked like rats": Russian Olympic champion complains that Russians were subjected to a "wild hell" in sports

Russian speed skater Ruslan Zakharov called the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, a "wild hell" where Russian representatives "walked like rats." The winner of the Sochi 2014 Games complained about the allegedly biased attitude toward the national team, forgetting that the Russian state doping system had been exposed.

Zakharov said this in an interview with the propaganda channel Match TV. The 36-year-old native of Gorky, who competed in short track speed skating and then switched to speed skating, hit out at International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, whose organization did not allow the Russian to participate in the 2018 Olympics.

"At the Sochi Games, I felt like I took everything from those Games-the opening, the closing, and I wore my national team's uniform. I haven't felt like that since. In Beijing, we walked like rats - quieter than water, lower than grass. It was a wild hell. I still cannot understand at what point it happened. During this period, I managed to get involved in an adventure and changed my sport, qualifying for the 2018 Games, but Thomas Bach forgot to invite me," Zakharov said.

Earlier, bobsledder Alexandr Zubkov, an "Olympic champion in the territory of the Russian Federation," accused the IOC of a "political order" because he was caught doping.

As a reminder, the results of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi exposed the state system of banned substances used by Russian athletes, which was recognized even by the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin. After reviewing the results of the Olympics, Russia was stripped of 11 medals.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasilyev called on Russia to stage a coup and seize power from the IOC.

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