Athletistic/ Others. Sultan Khamzaev, a member of the Russian Federation’s State Duma, criticized the Russian athletes’ decision to compete under a neutral flag.

“Russian athletes have become weak. I cannot imagine that, for example, boxer Popenchenko came out to compete without a flag. Yes, and other Soviet athletes. First of all, we must protect national interests. We We had a flag with rings. What’s that got to do with us? It’ll take a hundred years, they won’t remember anyone, but they’ll remember that we played without a flag or anthem. We had to refuse to play,” Khamzaev said.

The Russian team played in neutral status at the Beijing Olympics in February.