"We were brought to our knees!" Russian gymnasts refuse to participate in the 2024 Olympics

The Russian gymnastics team has refused to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in neutral status. In addition, the representatives of the aggressor country were not allowed to participate in two tournaments that will be qualifying for the competition in the French capital.

This was stated by the head coach of the Russian national team Valentina Rodionenko in a comment to the Sport24 portal. The expert said that the representatives of the Russian Federation were "brought to their knees" and emphasized that they would only play in tournaments in their own country.

"We have known for a long time that our gymnasts were deprived of participation in the Paris Olympics. And now what? We have accepted this decision and are preparing for the BRICS Games. We'll see what happens at the Friendship Games, we hope to see strong teams. None of our gymnasts will go to this Olympics in a neutral status. It is out of the question! There are two stages of the World Cup left, where we could have qualified for Paris, but we were not allowed to go there. We were brought to our knees, why should we go to these Olympics?" Rodionenko said.

Earlier, Russian rhythmic gymnasts Dina and Arina Averina announced their retirement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in defiance of the IOC.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matitsyn accused the world of hostility to Russian representatives and complained about the "time of difficulties". He also said that the IOC violates the right of Russians to support dictator Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

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