"I'll go around. I have a rank in the Russian Guard": Russian Olympic medalist refuses to compete at the 2024 Olympics

Russian cyclist Anastasiia Voinova has called the conditions for the admission of Russian athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris humiliating. The two-time Olympic medalist, who is a member of the Russian National Guard, refused to comply with the requirements and announced her refusal to compete in the French capital.

Voinova said this in an interview with the propaganda news agency TCC. The 31-year-old athlete, who won medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and called it absurd to have to apply for neutral status.

"I am fundamentally against applying for neutral status. I don't understand why the athletes are suspended at all, or why we should ask for some kind of neutral status. I think it's absurd to bend over backward and accept any conditions. I do not need it, I will do without their neutral status. I am currently suspended because I belong to the Russian Guard and have a rank. I'm well aware that I'm not going to participate in the next Games in Paris," Voinova said.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov demanded that the IOC ignore Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and not be interested in the topic at all. He was also ridiculed online after saying that world sport is "getting poorer, losing its level" because of the suspension of Russian athletes.

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