Ekimov: “Lyubimova changed her sports citizenship to French, we will not deliberately hold it before the Olympics”

President of the Russian Cycling Federation (RFCRF) Vyacheslav Ekimov told that if the Sports Training Center of the Russian National Teams did not have questions to ask Valeria Lyubimova, no one would stop her.

Lyubimova is ranked 23rd in the world rankings. During the 2023 season, the 19-year-old competed in three World Cup stages, with his best result being an eighth place at the February stage in Saudi Arabia.

— The athlete left to study, obtained a residence permit and finally changed her sporting nationality to French. She made her choice. Now we need to clarify all points if its story falls under the new order of the TsSP.

As for her participation in the Olympics, if there is no reason mentioned above, we cannot hold her. The rest is in the hands of the IOC and the National Olympic Committee. We can only express our position on OCD. And she is like this: these are life circumstances, a person made a choice. If the DSP has no questions to ask her, there is no point in detaining her,” Ekimov told .