“Return of the paraphernalia, apologies, and then we’ll talk.” Alexander Popov on the IOC and neutral status

Four-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov in Yekaterinburg was the center of attention on the second day of the International University Sports Festival. In an interview with , he spoke about his attitude to the neutral status of Russians, gave an assessment of the results of swimmers and the new Palace of Water Sports in Yekaterinburg.

– How do you find the Palais des Sports Nautiques? Is there anything missing?

– Not enough world records. The result in our sport comes only from the athlete. Not the situation, the public support, the psychological mood and the atmosphere.

— Do you like the competition format when students swim for their universities?

– Great. Such competitions are also an element of psychological preparation for more serious competitions. The more diverse the psychologically prepared athlete is, the better.

Are you going to the stands?

– No, children are waiting for me in the Chelyabinsk region. 70 children! We have dense and high quality work there, I can’t leave it, I have to finish it until the end, and then we can celebrate.

– Does the lack of international practice affect swimmers’ results? Or for such a sport it is not so critical – the struggle with seconds continues.

– We have restrictions – between the ears. And those seconds that are in the table of world records.

– But you can simply sink psychologically and no longer swim towards records.

– Let’s not invent, it’s superfluous. You have to encourage the guys. Nobody bothers them to get up and show the result! Are the recordings recognized? Recognize. Kliment Kolesnikov’s world record showed it perfectly. And the more Russians have world records, the worse it will be [на мировой арене] Everything will be alright.

– Did Zhenya Chikunova’s record impress you?

– She did well, but something needs to be worked on psychologically. The competitions do not start in the final, but in the preliminary, you have to know how to swim quickly.

– You have already said that you are against the speech of the Russians in a neutral status. Will your opinion change?

– Never. Never in my life.

– Many athletes may not understand this: how can someone with such high results in sport not share their desire to compete?

– Yes, they want to play and the guys want to live. Questions?

– The stadium named after Elena Isinbayeva has lost its name. What do you think about it?

– The stadium has been renamed. This is the decision of the sports community of the city of Makhachkala and the Republic of Dagestan as a whole. The people have chosen, but you cannot deceive the people.

— Do you attend IOC events, videoconferences or anything else? Name?

– My name is, I do not participate anywhere, because I do not understand the position of this organization in relation to our country and Belarus. I have nothing to argue with them, I’ve said it once before – just the flag and all the paraphernalia, full acknowledgment and apology, and then we’ll start talking.