"We are difficult to beat. They're afraid": Russian Olympic champion spouts nonsense about Russia's suspension from the World Cup

Two-time Olympic champion Boris Mikhailov has made a foolish claim that the Russian national hockey team is not allowed to participate in international tournaments because of fears of rivalry. The eight-time world championship winner blamed Finland and Sweden for everything, forgetting that these teams have won more awards than the Russian team over the past 10 years.

Mikhailov said this in an interview with the propaganda channel Match TV. The former Russian national team coach repeated the traditional Kremlin narratives about the impossibility of politicizing sports and the allegedly unfair suspension of the team from international competitions.

"If I were to become president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for even an hour, I would immediately allow it. And all the leaders of the IOC and international federations understand that without the Russian national team, these are not the same world champions and Olympic Games. But I understand why we are not allowed in Europe. It's because teams like Sweden and Finland may be left without any medals at all! That's what they're afraid of. Russia is an extra competitor for them. And we are hard to beat. That's all. That's why it's easier not to meet us at all, not allowing us to participate in tournaments," Mikhailov said.

Since 2012, the Russian team has won the world championship twice, the Swedish team three times, and the Finnish team twice. All of these teams have also won gold at the last five Olympic Games.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the head coach of the Russia-25 hockey team Roman Rotenberg went into a puppy-like excitement over the birthday of Chechen State Duma deputy General Adam Delimkhanov and became a laughingstock on the Internet.

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