World record holder Chikunova: “The decision not to go to the Olympics was very difficult for me, but I don’t regret it”

Swimming world record holder Evgenia Chikunova said on that she did not regret the decision not to go to the Paris Olympics, despite the fact that it was difficult for her.

Earlier, the president of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, Vladimir Salnikov, told that for Russian swimmers, the history of the Olympic Games was a “page turned”. Salnikov also noted that Russian swimmers will receive special prizes if they achieve higher results than the medalists and finalists of the Paris Olympics.

— For me, money has never been the main thing. I do what I love. I get a thrill from swimming, from setting my own records and progressing in some way. And in principle, I do what I really love. So this [деньги]probably as a nice bonus for me.

Last year, I already participated in international competitions, at the BRICS Games in South Africa. I liked it a lot! It’s a different atmosphere. When I arrived [на эти соревнования], I realized that I missed you. I’m waiting for Bosnia, I’m getting ready, it will be interesting to see who is sailing there, because I don’t know yet.

Of course, I don’t have a very good attitude towards history with a neutral status. Especially considering the criteria that World Aquatics has set for us, because I don’t agree with them. I can not do that. I made the somewhat difficult decision not to go to the Olympics. And for the moment, I don’t regret it. I think I did the right thing for me anyway.

At first it seemed like they were halfway there, that the athletes seemed to be allowed in. But when the conditions were set, of course, [стало ясно, что] I don’t want to play like that. Plus we still have the WA criteria, we have to sign a declaration. And I certainly don’t agree with her.

[«Игры дружбы”] will be the main start of the year for me, so the focus is on preparing for September. And I look forward to the “Friendship Games”, because they promise to offer us very large-scale competitions. I hope it will be like that. As practice has shown, the Friendship Games, which took place in 2022, took place in a very interesting way. And I really liked it, especially what happened this summer. And I expect it to be even better.

How to find sports motivation? First of all, it’s a job that I really like. I love swimming. And every year I understand that I cannot live without him, I fall in love with swimming more and more, so [надо] do what you love,” Chikunova said on .

On Monday, Chikunova became second in the 50-meter breaststroke at the Russian Championships, held in Kazan, losing to Tatyana Belonogoff. At these competitions, the reward for the world record in the Olympic distance is 1.25 million rubles. Last April, Chikunova set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Russian Championships – 2 minutes 17.55 seconds. Chikunova’s record was ratified by the International Swimming Federation.

The Summer Olympics will take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11. The World Friendship Games will be held from September 15 to 29, 2024 in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, the BRICS Games will be held in Kazan from June 11 to 24.

The Russian swimming championship will end on April 19 in Kazan. Watch live broadcasts of the tournament on the channels of the Match holding company and on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.