World Cup organizers did not allow Russians to avoid provocations, says canoeist Romasenko

Canoeist Oleya Romasenko .

At the end of April, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) admitted the Russians to international competitions as neutral athletes. At the same time, in August, the German Kayaking and Canoeing Association did not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Duisburg World Championships, qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.

– How did you react to the fact that the organizers of the World Championship did not authorize the Russian rowers?

– At first I was upset because I wanted to participate in the World Cup. And then I thought anything could happen to us there. Perhaps Germany has not been able to guarantee high quality protection and security for our athletes. Surely there could have been provocations against the Russian team at the World Cup, and the organizers decided to avoid that. So it’s the right decision.

I hope next year they will let us in and we will have time to prepare for European qualification, where we can win Olympic licenses,” Romasenko told .