Chigireva: “The world started talking about strange new rules, when we talked about it, they didn’t listen to us”

Two-time Olympic champion Vlada Chigireva told that the world was talking about the imperfections of the new rules of synchronized swimming, the issue of which was repeatedly raised by the Russian team.

The World Championships in Doha took place without the Russian team. Belarusian athlete Vasilina Khondoshko performed in neutral status: two days after the preliminary competition, where she took fifth place, she redid her solo program in strict compliance with the new rules and became third. According to Khondoshko’s coach, Elena Voronova, the version of the program prepared for the final became “a parody of the system of new rules and judging.”

— Thanks to the precedent with Vasilina Khondoshko’s solo, the world began to talk about the fact that the rules are strange, that they are not aimed at complexity and objectivity. When only our athletes and coaches talked about it, of course, no one heard us, and when I talked about it to girls from other teams, they responded: “What can we do about it, we respect the rules that exist. Of course, they play, because at the World Championships in Japan, according to these rules, any team can win,” Chigireva told .

— They have already started to appeal and won their case. This is what happened with the Italian duo who, after considering the protest, gained two places in the final table. By the way, calls are paid. So you still need to think about whether you should submit or not. A young Austrian girl filed a complaint against the judicial commission, two hearings have already taken place, we are following the process,” she added.