Athletistic / Olympics. The 2016 Summer Olympics, held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), remain the last normal Games. It was in South America, for 8 years, that Russian athletes were able for the last time to hear the anthem in their honor, see the tricolor flag waving and completely, without any “but” or “if”, associate with their homeland.

However, already at these Olympics it all came down to attempts to pinch and poke Russia. Shortly before the start of the Rio 2016 Games, Richard McLaren’s report was made public. Because of him, many Russian athletes did not go to the Olympics for no reason, and the All-Russian Athletics Federation completely lost its accreditation and could only send Daria Klishina to Brazil (the long jumper lived and trained in the United States for many years).

The Russian national team traditionally goes to the Summer Olympics with a large squad. Perhaps only the United States, China and 2016 Olympic host nation Brazil outnumber the Russian delegation. In Rio, our team occupies a 17-story building, of which it owns 16 and one of which remains empty.

Photo source: OKR

There is no security at the entrance to this building. In a socially unequal Brazil, it’s quite strange, but no one could have imagined that in the Olympic village, you would have to defend yourself against someone. But thanks to synchronized swimmer Alexandra Patskevich, the world became aware of the blatant scandal.

— The first day in Rio was incredibly long, hard and intense! Everyone will learn from us how Russian athletes are treated at the Olympics! You must not remain silent! The attitude towards us is disrespectful! The morning began with the fact that on the floor under the door we found a torn Russian flag, which, moreover, was tied. But that’s something else… In the evening, he completely disappeared! However, we cannot be broken or provoked. We smile despite everything and we work even harder“, wrote Patskevich on his page on social networks.

The legendary Tatiana Danchenko, senior coach of Russian synchronized swimming, did not stay aside:

— The girls told me about this incident. As soon as they got to their room, they hung a flag near the door. In the morning they wake up and the flag is tied and placed on the ground. This incident is very unpleasant, we are all of course very outraged“RIA Novosti Sport quotes her as saying.

Almost immediately, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) opened an initial investigation into this situation. Interestingly, at first the head of the Russian delegation to the 2016 Olympics, Igor Kazikov, said that nothing like this could simply happen. He said organizers and officials from the Russians living in the 17-story building were investigating the incident, but none of them found anything suspicious or provocative.

A few days after Kazikov’s remarks, Alexandra Patskevich wrote another post on social networks. It came out much more neutral. In it, the synchronized swimmer thanked the fans for their support and said that she was confident that Russian athletes in Rio de Janeiro would be safe, thanks to which they could achieve great victories.

Photo source: social networks of Alexandra Patskevich

No major organizational conclusions have been drawn. In Rio, such scandals never happened again with the Russian flag. And such an event could hardly have had a significant impact on the competition. After McLaren’s report, Russian athletes were mentally prepared for such provocations. Russian athletes won 56 medals at the first Olympic Games in South America – 19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze. The Russians then showed once again that difficulties not only do not break us, but even allow us to achieve more.

Synchronized swimmers brought two gold medals to the Russian team. And Alexandra Patskevich became the Olympic champion in team competitions. It doesn’t matter who exactly dropped the Russian flag. It is important that Russian athletes, including Patskevich, raised him to the top of Olympus with pride and dignity.

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic