2010 Vancouver Cross Country Silver Medalist Alexander Panjinsky told he wasn’t that surprised ANOC didn’t recognize the three-time champion as the best at the 2022 Olympics Alexandra Bolshunova and how much by choosing Hwang Dae-Hon, whose achievements are more modest than those of many champions at the Beijing Games.
Previously, ANOC recognized South Korean short tracker Hwang Dae-heon as the best athlete of the 2022 Games. He won the 1500m and silver in the relay.
– As for Alexander, the decision was probably partly politicized. But at the same time, when choosing, they were not guided by the number of victories at the Games. Because in addition to Bolshunov, there were also athletes in Beijing with several gold medals, including biathlete Johannes Boe, but the prize was awarded to an athlete who only has one gold medal and a silver medal. If we take the achievements of past Games, then, I repeat, there were athletes who were more deserving (than Hwang Dae-Hon). Recognition as the best athlete with a gold medal seems strange to me.
Most likely, we do not know the criteria that have been put forward for this nomination. Maybe it’s an athlete we didn’t expect anything from, or maybe it should be some kind of young champion? Without understanding the criteria, it is difficult to draw conclusions.
If we talk about Alexander, he probably could not be recognized due to the political situation. Because the agenda of the whole IOC is apparently focused on the non-recognition of Russian and Belarusian athletes. And they couldn’t recognize Bolshunov as the best. The fact that Alexander would not receive this award was evident in this situation. If it wasn’t the Olympics, but the World Championship, then maybe the FIS would have recognized it. Because she appreciates Russian athletes, even though she can’t allow them now. But the IOC now seems to have the task of following Western political trends. It is strange for me, because all this is in contradiction with the Olympic Charter,” Panzhinsky told .
Source : MatchTV
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