“If Efimova decides to go to the Olympics, we can only envy her perseverance” – Pankratov

Double Olympic swimming champion Denis Pankratov told that the tenacity of the three-time Olympic medalist Yulia Efimova we can only envy her if she decides to go to the Paris Olympic Games.

Efimova, in an interview with , said that she does not rule out the possibility of performing at the Paris Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on December 8 that it would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who successfully qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics to have individual neutral status. In Paris, Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete without a flag, anthem and other national symbols. The IOC banned the participation of athletes associated with security forces or who had expressed support for the SVO.

“I don’t see any betrayal in that.” The competitive activity of athletes is a professional activity. The country invested in them so that they could demonstrate themselves and their alma mater on the international stage. Yes, this time without a flag, without an anthem, but I believe that athletes capable of expressing themselves and remembering the existence of Russian sport are obliged to participate in international competitions.

Another thing is that if Yulia decides to do this, she will be left without support. But since she hardly played for a few years, she had almost no support to prepare. But here neither the Russian Olympic Committee, nor the Ministry of Sports, nor the All-Russian Swimming Federation can help him. She will go at her own risk, no one will ensure her safety. If it is ready, only a monument can be erected.

She was already in a similar situation when she was admitted just a few days before the Rio Olympics, if she is ready to take another risk… It’s a sports career, one day we will remember it with suction.

Someone may not understand, judge or perceive. But the question is: what will Yulia have to do for this? Sign a document with neutral content or make accusatory speeches? In any case, we already have people who have obtained neutral status, and then it is up to them to decide whether to go there or not.

The situation is changing every day, maybe something positive will happen, and maybe those who managed to achieve neutral status will receive concessions and have time to board the departing train.

— Yulia has always been perceived in a special way by her foreign colleagues and by the international community. Do you think she even has a chance in this situation?

– So that’s the question. If they bully you with your permission, they will bully you fully. I repeat: the stakes are even higher than in 2016. If she decides to do it, then we should envy her perseverance and her confidence. What is the system there? You need to get neutral status first, qualify, and then resolve the issue with the Olympics,” Pankratov told .