"Serious loss for Russia". Olympic vice-champion refuses to play for Russia and changes citizenship

Russian European champion (2021) and 2020 Olympic silver medallist in rowing Anna Prakaten joins the Uzbek national team. The 30-year-old athlete represented Belarus until 2016.

For the past six months, Anna has been training partly on her own and partly with the national team. At some point in time, the rower planned to end her professional career, but when she had the opportunity to compete in international competitions, but under the flag of Uzbekistan, she did not turn down the chance.

"Of course, her departure is a serious loss for our team, but every athlete can choose their own fate. It's a difficult time for our top athletes, and it's very difficult to find motivation in the face of suspension," TASS quoted Alexei Svirin, president of the Russian Rowing Federation (RRF), as saying.

RRF refused to coordinate the transition, but it is very likely that the issue will be coordinated with the International Rowing Federation.

"There is a quarantine of 24 months, but the executive committee of the International Rowing Federation may reduce it due to the circumstances in which the Russian athletes are now, so we cannot exclude that Prakaten can compete for Uzbekistan at the Olympics in Paris", - added Svirin.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL reported that Dauren Kurugliev, a two-time Russian freestyle wrestling champion in the 86 kg weight category, will compete for the Greek national team.

It is worth noting that following the events of February 24 last year, Russia has seen a massive outflow of athletes.

For example, four-time world championship medallist and five-time European short track speed skating champion Sofia Prosvirnova recently decided that she would compete under the Danish flag. The 25-year-old native of St Petersburg is married to Danish speed skater Viktor Torup.

Prior to that, Russian former world heavyweight champion Murat Gassiev was granted Armenian citizenship,

Earlier it became known that Viktor Plitsev, a two-time winner of the World Biathlon Championships among boys and juniors, was granted sports citizenship of North Macedonia.

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