Russian judoka Elis Startseva explained on her first reaction to the decision of the Russian Judo Federation not to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
At the end of June, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed four Russian judokas to participate in the Summer Olympics in Paris in neutral status. The list included Startseva, Valery Endovitsky, Dali Liluashvili and Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov. In total, the Russian team had 12 quotas for participation in the Games – 7 for men and 5 for women. The President of the Russian Judo Federation, Igor Soloveichik, then announced that Russian judokas would not participate in the 2024 Games.
— We were in the store and I received a letter in the mail with an invitation to the Olympic Games. I was already happy, I thought I could finally breathe out. I’ll go home now, sign it and send it. I arrive home and almost immediately our senior coach calls me and says that our team was not allowed to enter. I try to ask him a question: “What do you mean? I just received an invitation!” He replies: “Only you and one other girl were allowed, but we are not going.” It was very difficult at that moment. Everything collapsed inside, there was a void in my head, I wanted to scream, to destroy everything! She sat down with her hands down.
“I set myself a small goal: to win at least the Grand Slam tournament, the Grand Prix stage. I don’t even have gold from these tournaments. Win the European and World Championships. I think that a set of these medals will be much more valuable than Olympic gold,” Startseva said in a special report by Egor Gelver “Portrait of the Champion” on .
Startseva is 23 years old, she is the national judo champion (2023).
In February 2022, the IOC recommended that sports federations not allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in international tournaments. Later, the recommendations were softened, and in December 2023, IOC chief Thomas Bach said the organization would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who had passed the selection process to the 2024 Summer Games in an individual neutral status. The athletes will be able to perform in Paris without a flag, anthem, or other national symbols.
The Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11.
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I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
